Guardian of the League
by Scarecrow'sMainFan
Summary: A catastrophic event drives Ichigo to the DCU. There Ichigo continues to do what he does best, as the powerful eighth member of the Justice League! But when evil forces from back home bleed into his new home, can he save his new world...?
1. Prologue

**Well here it is Ladies and Gentlemen. After a great deal of demand, here is my Bleach/Justice League Crossove_r! _This is only a prologue, to explain how Ichigo gets to the JL World, so there are no JL members in it. I am posting this Christmas Day, so I apologize if there are any errors. So, without further ado, here is the first chapter of Guardian of the League... **_  
><em>

_-The Guardian-_

Somehow or another, it always came back to Aizen. Seriously, the guy had his fingers in more pies then should be possible without **someone** noticing. Either their were more people backing Aizen then anyone thought, or Soul Society was the single most corrupt and incompetent organization in all of space-time.

Don't ask me how the bastard escaped his imprisonment, I don't know. Hat n' Clogs tried to explain it to me, but I was a little preoccupied with all of reality ending.

Turns out the Spirit King is kind of a pushover. Never expected anyone to be powerful enough (or insane enough) to kick down his front door and murder him. But as it turns out, there was a reason no one had ever tried this before. When you kill the ruler of all of the afterlife, the literal 'yang' of all existence, reality goes right down the crapper. It was through the Spirit King that the cycle of Rebirth flowed. With him gone, it stopped, then vanished. Billions of lives were snuffed out in an instant, never to be seen again.

From there, time and space began to unravel at the seams. Past, present, and future seemed to be happening simultaneously! I saw Muramasa and Jin Kariya locked in combat on a slab of earth that was floating through space. I saw the Vizards and Espada shift back and forth between their human and hollow forms at random, a process which appeared to be very painful. I myself had briefly reassumed the body of my eight year old self, before rapidly aging, stopping at each 'upgrade' my soul had gotten in its entire life, before eventually reaching its proper status.

Aizen tried to undo the damage, but it was clear he wasn't up to the task. He'd absorbed the power, but he had none of the **control **necessary to use it effectively. And the fact that after so much planning (apparently literally centuries worth), and sacrifice, he would die having not fulfilled his ambition drove him mad.

There wasn't much the Gotei 13 could do about it either. Aizen had apparently fused with his Zanpakto (which the bastard had dropped into his lap when time and space went pear shaped), which made looking at him difficult without falling pray to one of his illusions. Old man Yama, Shunsui, and Ukitake had been taken out first, destroyed in a flash of light.

Toshiro and Soifon had been crushed by his spiritual pressure, their bodies reduced to atoms. Mayuri, the coward, tried to flee (though where he thought he could go with all of existence ending was anybodies guess), but he'd been mobbed by the Espada and Xcution, who had fallen under Aizen's control.

Kenpachi, god bless him, had nearly succeeded in inuring Aizen, but at the last minute, Aizen focused his defense, and Kenpachi's blade shattered against his skin. Aizen had then proceeded to beat him to a pulp. Byakuya had tried to help, but sadly, the Vizards (now hollow-fied) stopped him.

I had spent most of the battle desperately trying to both kill Aizen and keep my friends safe and alive. I found this task to be impossible. Especially as more and more of my allies either vanished into nothing or turned against us. I was quickly finding myself overrun. My strength, my speed, my power, simply weren't going to be enough to overcome everyone. I had to end this quickly before…

And then it happened. A cry split the air and my soul like a knife. Turning, my eyes widened in horror as my friends; my wonderful, glorious, faithful friends, dropped to the ground, dead as stone. In a flash, the nothingness consumed their forms.

My restraint broke… and for once me and my Hollow were in total agreement. Death was going to take everyone here, one way, or another.

I throw myself at Aizen, my fury keeping me more focused then I've ever been in my my life. Yet despite my best efforts, he keeps up with me easily. We match each other blow for blow, our respective healing factors making any wound disappear moments after they are dealt.

With our near limitless energy, we could have possibly fought until the end of time.

But Aizen never fights fair. With my focus only on Aizen before me, I miss the enemies who flank me. In a flash I am dog piled by the Vizards and Xcution. I try to throw them off, but they slow me down for Aizen to hit me with numerous powerful blows.

But before any fatal blows are struck, my attackers are blown away by a blast of Crimson energy. Turning my head, what's left of my human consciousness takes in the sight of Hat N' Clogs, sword outstretched, crouching over the broken body of Yoruichi.

"So Kisuke, you are still alive… I am surprised." Aizen said, smug smile never leaving his face. The world around us shook as the nothing closed in, threatening to kill us all… though it would likely do that anyway.

Aizen sighed "And I had hoped to remake this world… I suppose this means I will have to find a new world and start over." he said, making Kisuke's eyes widen. When he had been the head of the 12th division, he had briefly theorized the possibility of parallel worlds, but had dismissed it. Not because it wasn't plausible, but because their was no known way to break the barriers that separated the worlds. Apparently, Aizen now had that kind of power.

Like an Espada tearing open a Garganta, Aizen tore open the fabric of time and space. But unlike a Garganta, the inside of the portal was not Black, but a blinding white.

Kisuke struggled to his feet "Ichigo… I'll take care of Aizen… " he said.

"What… about… you?" Ichigo asked, struggling not to lose himself again.

"Assuming Aizen's not bluffing, that portal's the only way you're going to make out of this fight alive." he said. Then, raising his sword, he uttered the one word Ichigo would have never expected "Bankai"

The explosion of power knocked everyone back, Aizen included This was good for me, as it put me closer to the portal then Aizen. This way, I could make sure he didn't use it before I killed him. I know Kisuke said to use it myself, but what was the point? All of my friends were dead, my family was dead, and my entire world was gone! What was the point in escaping to a new world? I had only ever strived to get stronger for the purpose of protecting those close to me, and now all those people were gone. I was perfectly fine with dying… so long as I took Aizen out with me.

_'You may be fine with it, but we sure as shit aren't!' _an obnoxious voice rang in the back of his head, just before his body froze. No! But how! His Inner Hollow wasn't suppose to be able to talk to him anymore!

_**'Forgive me Ichigo, but I cannot allow you to throw your life away' **_The voice of Zangetsu chimed in, just as Ichigo felt his body go slack for an instant. The next, he felt like he was trapped, as his body began to move without him willing it too!

"What are you doing?" He growled, desperately trying to regain control. His body was making a mad dash for the Portal, away from the bastard he wanted so badly to kill.

_**'Saving your life' **_Zangetsu responded

_'And to a greater extent; our own.' _The Hollow added, though there was no mirth in his tone.

Ichigo found his struggling useless, but a part of him had known it would be. When two of the three worked together, it was easy to suppress the third. He and Zangetsu had been doing to the Hollow for a long time. But now, the two aspects of his inner-world were working in tandem **against ** him.

_**'We are not against you Ichigo!' **_Zangestu said, having heard Ichigo's thoughts and feeling somewhat offended. They were almost at the portal now, and they easily backhanded Aaroniero when he tried to get in their way.

"But Aizen is the other way! I have to avenge my friends! This isn't what I want!" Ichigo roared in anger and despair.

_'No it isn't Kingy, but it's what you need.' _the hollow said, using Ichigo's arm to fling a massive Getsuga Tenshou which cleared the path of Vizards. The few stranglers were blown away by Kisuke and Aizen's battle as the two flew past (well, it was more like Aizen was trying to get to the portal, and Kisuke wasn't going to let him).

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo asked, they were now yards from the Portal.

_**'You are, and will always be, a protector. You NEED to protect people. That is why you are so angry that your friends are gone… you feel you have failed to protect them.' **_Zangetsu said _**"But Ichigo THINK, your friends would never want you to throw away your life like were planning! What would Orihime, Chad, or Uryu say if they saw you do what was tantamount to giving up?' **_

_'I wonder what your little sisters would say, seeing their big brother chose to sacrifice himself, when he could have lived, and kept on protecting' _

"You leave my friends and family out of this!" Ichigo was now at the Portal, all he had to do was jump inside.

_**'We only want what is best for you, Ichigo. And so would they. They would not resent you for using this portal to make a new life for yourself in another world. Just think Ichigo, a whole new world is a new world of possibilities.' **_Zangetsu pleaded, hoping Ichigo wouldn't do something foolish (which was a big gambit).

Ichigo sighed, not sure what to do. While he would love to stay and fight Aizen to the death, is that what the others would want for him? To die when he didn't have to?

He looked into the swirling vortex and made his choice. It would be hard, but he would chose life. For his friends.

_-The Guardian-_

Aizen and Kisuke watched as Ichigo hurled himself into the Portal, which closed with a snap, sealing the exit. Kisuke heaved a sigh, he had done all he could to give Ichigo that chance. He had worried for a minute that the impulsive kid wasn't gonna go for it. But in the end, he had made the smart choice. Personally, he had little to no energy left to fight Aizen, and would likely be killed in the next blow or too, but it was worth it. Now he could die happy, knowing Aizen was going to…

Why was Aizen smiling like that?

"Well, I bet you think you've really won this haven't you Kisuke?" Aizen said, just as strong, familiar arms wrapped around Kisuke and held him in place. Kisuke looked over his shoulder and saw, to his shock "Yoruichi?" he gasped.

"That was very naughty thing for you to do Kisuke" Aizen continued, as though his old time foe hadn't said anything. "That portal took a lot of energy to open, especially when I'm channeling so much of my power into keeping reality from collapsing on us, amongst other things. It'll take me quite some time to build up that much power again." with a wave of his hand, Aizen created a thrown for himself to sit upon. Looks like he had grasped some control over his powers…

"Ah well… I guess I'll let Ichigo scout it out for me. After all he's been through, it'll be like a nice vacation for him." he chuckled at the thought "Oh course… I suppose that'll make the surprise of seeing us all alive all the greater."

"You might as well kill me Aizen, I have no intention of serving you!" Kisuke didn't care if he was reduced to nothingness, he wouldn't fight against Ichigo. But then… what about Yoruichi? Was this just a powerful illusion of Aizen's that was holding him?

Aizen chuckled softly "You lesser beings are all the same" he said, quite firm in his belief that he was above them all. "You all believe there is such a thing as 'choice'" he waved his hand, and Kisuke watched something horrible unfold.

Like a curtain falling, the nothingness around them fell away, revealing a terrible sight: A large structure floated below them, its design a mesh of Las Noches and The Soul Society. The nothingness which had encroached on them this whole time, while still prevalent, was much farther away then it had been. And surrounding Aizen, Kisuke, and Yoruichi, was the entirety of the Gotei 13, the Vizards, the Espada, the Bount, the Zanpakuto spirits, Xcution, and saddest of all: Ichigo's friends. All stared down at Kisuke with milky eyes, clearly under the sway of Aizen.

"How?" it was the only question worth asking.

Aizen stood, and walked towards him. He tried to struggle, but he was too weak from his battle "Does it really matter?" Aizen asked, placing his hand on Kisuke's head "You wouldn't remember the answer" Kisuke felt a tremendous pressure on his brain, and white started to creep in on the edges of his vision "Let's just say, having absorbed the power of the Spirit King does have some perks." and that was the last thing Kisuke Urahara heard as a free man.

Aizen released him and stepped back. Yoruichi released him, and Kisuke slumped forward, before standing under his own power; his eyes just as glassy as everyone else there. Aizen sighed, it wasn't perfect, and they certainly weren't conversationalists, but it would do.

He hadn't been kidding when he'd said it would take awhile to reopen the portal. If he tried to attempt it now, the consequences would be disastrous. He would simply have to make himself comfortable here until then. Who knows, maybe he could get the universe back in working order and he wouldn't even need it.

Ichigo Kurosaki had better hope that was the case. That boy had been a thorn in his side for far to long. And should the too of them ever meet again, he would be certain to show him that displeasure.

_-The Guardian-_

Ichigo couldn't tell if he'd been falling for seconds or centuries. His entire body was on fire, and he felt crushed so badly he could barely breath. He was starting to regret jumping into the portal, as death couldn't possibly be this bad.

And then it was over.

He hit the ground with a thud, the feel of cool grass under his skin and the chill night breeze rustling his orange hair. Ichigo rolled over, and looked up to see a full moon. The stars were so bright here… wherever here was. He really should try and figure out where he was, so he could get his bearings…

And yet the stress of inter-dimensional travel, combined with the emotional stress of the veritable Hell he'd just been through, convinced him to stay where he was. At least for the night.

And so, with a heavy heart, Ichigo Kurosaki fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

**End of Prologue.**

**There you have it! I know it may seem a little depressing, but I promise it will pick up! I considered leaving out the part with Aizen revealing everyone was still alive, but I felt bad killing everyone off, and I knew you'd all probably be upset with me if I just left them all dead. I do have a plot point involving Aizen, put he won't be showing up at least in the first ten chapters. From there its just a matter of what story archs to stick him between. **

**Ah well. **

**Hope you all enjoyed it. If you did, please Review. If you didn't sorry to hear that, but please don't flame. **

**Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays everyone. **

**Until Next Time...  
><strong>


	2. Picking Up The Pieces

**Hello everyone! How are you this fine... Tuesday. Doesn't have quite the same ring does it? Oh well. Here we are again, but before I get into anything, let's take a look at some responses to your reviews:  
><strong>

**pyromania101: Yes, the intro was rather depressing, wasn't it? Sadly, this chapter won't be a bundle of laughs either, but I promise things will get lighter in tone. Pairing? It's a bit early for that, and I honestly haven't given it any thought. As for brutality... sometimes he will be brutal, and sometimes he won't. He'll never kill a mortal human; he's still Ichigo after all, but that doesn't mean criminals won't get the shit kicked out of them.  
><strong>

**Dark Vizard447: Glad you liked it! This takes place a bit before the first episode of the Justice League.  
><strong>

**Mark Of Cain: Glad you like it! I hope this chapter is the same!  
><strong>

**snow299: Glad you like it, and here you go!  
><strong>

**exillion: Eh, maybe so, but the bit about corruption was mostly a joke. Azien is a cool villain, but he got less interesting in terms of character as time went on. As for the second part... I shrug. It worked well enough when I needed it.  
><strong>

**Seb20: The best on the site? Well... wow. Thank you. I hope this continues to meet that high bar. Ichigo is 21 in this story, though he looks SLIGHTLY older. Make of that what you will. As for pairings... I do not know.  
><strong>

**Zangetsu Ossan: Glad you like it! I update as quickly as I can. As for his level compared to Superman... I'll get back to you on that.  
><strong>

**drake202: Glad you like it. This takes place just before the start of the first JL episode.  
><strong>

**cronamaka: I'm glad I started it too. Glad you liked it.  
><strong>

**AzaeliaSandybanks: Glad you like it, and I hope you continue to. **

**dragonheart967: Glad you like it. I update when I can. At this time, I do not have any pairings planned.  
><strong>

**Baron von Nobody: Glad you like it. Well you'll get your wish, because that is what I have planned. Just not this chapter...  
><strong>

**shadow juubi overlord: Glad you like it. Here you go. **

**baltz00: Yeah, I was surprised there weren't more stories like this. Whenever I picture Ichigo, it's generally with shorter hair. Ichigo's outfit will match his sword (this statement explained in chapter). I do not know if there will be pairings.  
><strong>

**GrayHeart: Thanks. A little before episode one. He looks slightly older then he did in canon. Ichigo can manifest his zanpakuto as any of the sword he used in the series up to this point (shiki, bankai, time-skip shiki, time-skip bankai, fullbringer). Glad you like it, and I hope you continue to like it.**

**Well, there you go. Now then let's get somethings out of the way: **

**This chapter takes place 6 Months before the start of Episode One of the Justice League.**

**At this point in time there is no planned pairing. **

**This chapter is meant to fill in the gap between Ichigo's arrival, and the events of Episode One.**

**In all honesty, this chapter was actually very hard for me to write. I wanted to get right into the good stuff with the League, but it felt like I would be rushing things to fast, which I didn't want to do either. So I made this sort of... I guess I have to say it: filler Chapter. This is meant to answer questions like: How will Ichigo bridge the language barrier, or Where will he live. Oddly enough, these were questions no one asked. Mostly you asked about pairings and whether or not Ichigo was stronger then Superman, so maybe this chapter will be for my own sake more then yours, who knows. I really want this story to turn out well, and I want people to like it. That was why I felt this chapter was necessary. After this, we can get into the actual Justice League adventures.  
><strong>

**I'll talk to you more after the chapter. Until then, let us dig into another (hopefully) amazing chapter of... **

**Guardian of the League: Chapter One: Picking Up The Pieces  
><strong>

**6 Months after the Incident: **

It was raining. He hated it when it was raining.

He sighed as he rested his head against the cool glass and watched the world below. The people scurrying about, all with their own lives and problems. None of them like him.

Him. Ichigo Kurosaki, age 21, resident of apartment 37B.

Soul Reaper? Not in the strictest definition.

Vizard? Well, closer, he could certainly be one when he wanted to be.

Full-Bringer? Yeah, he'd been that too, for all of… what was it, three days? Four? Couldn't have been more then a week before things had gone to hell, and the shit storm that was his life had started up again. The start of a war. A war that lasted until the end of time… or at least the end of his time.

He stepped away from the window glass and walked back into the shadows of his apartment. It had been hell to get, since he didn't have any money, and he barely spoke english. That had been a shock, waking up in a place that didn't speak the same language as him. Of course, he'd had a passing understanding of english (at least what he'd payed attention to in school), but it wasn't enough to take away one of the many shocks he'd received after he found himself in this world.

_Flashback: The day of his arrival: _

Ichigo slept through the entire night, and most of the morning afterwards. When he finally did awaken, he found his entire body aching from his trip across dimensions.

Slowly sitting up, Ichigo discovered to his horror that he was not wearing his Soul Reaper clothes. Instead, he was wearing the cloths he had worn as a mortal. Ichigo had a brief panic attack, wondering if the trip across time and space had managed to do what so many couldn't: kill him.

_**"You are not dead Ichigo."**_ the wise voice of old man Zangetsu rang clearly through his head.

"Well, if I'm not dead, then why am I not wearing my Soul Reapers uniform? Why can I barely sense my own spiritual pressure?

_**"The reason is simple, Ichigo. Your reserve of spiritual pressure is critically low right now. A combination of exhaustion from your previous battle, and the stress of traveling dimensions. It should return in time. For now, you must be patient." **_Zangestu explained at length, making Ichigo sigh in relief. To have traveled so far, only to be rendered powerless again, would have been quite the blow to his already dampened moral.

After a few hours, he found he was able to stand without feeling the urge to vomit. Shakily, he made his way through the foliage, looking for some sign of civilization. It didn't take him too long, and in a matter of hours, he found himself walking out of the woods to find himself surrounded by a large city. At the time, he wasn't able to read it, but there was a large sign near the public entrance to the place he'd spent the last few days sleeping in:

Central Park.

Of course, Ichigo didn't really take note of the sign. No, he had noticed something else altogether more interesting. As he walked, people were looking at him. They could see him.

That should not be possible!

In all his time as a spiritual being, no one without spiritual awareness was able to see him! And yet, as he walked, he constantly saw people looking at him! And it wasn't in a weird way, like you would when you saw a ghost, because he wasn't a ghost! He was wearing the same casual cloths he'd worn before he left his body. Without spirit energy to cloak him, he'd reverted back to casual attire. Wasn't that thankfully convenient.

His body which was, in all likely hood, gone; along with everything else in his universe.

_Flashback End: _

That had been a shock right there, realizing that his real body was, for all intents and purposes, dead and gone. Clearly, the rules of this universe were different.

The fact that people saw him, and the fact that he would at times bump into objects or people as he wandered the town, told him something: somehow, his trip through the portal had solidified his spirt, turning it into his real body. This meant he had all the powers he'd had, but could now no longer be hidden from the rest of the world. If he used his spirit powers now, everyone would know.

It had taken him a long time to find a proper shelter. After nearly seven hours of trying to talk to random people on the street, and trying to convey what he needed, he finally found some relief. He spotted an elderly couple speaking his language, and was able to ask them for help. They were very pleasant people, after they realized he wasn't some random street punk coming to rob them (once again the work of his orange hair). They pointed him to a part of town where nearly everyone spoke his language.

Once there, things had started to look up. As it was starting to get late, he managed to find a small apartment building where he could get settled, provided he got a job in the very near future to pay for it. He got the feeling the landlord was weary of letting him have a room, but ultimately didn't argue. Ichigo was glad, quite sure he didn't want to try sleeping on the streets.

_Flashback: Ichigo's first night. _

He sighed, looking about the meager room. It was all he could afford, having no job and all. He would have to find one tomorrow. It was strange to think, this was his life now. No friends or family to fall back on. And no Soul Society to call on him. He didn't know why, but he'd always felt as though it would go on forever. That there would always be something to fight for. And now it was gone.

_"That isn't true kingy and you know it." _His inner hollow commented, his voice ringing snidely through Ichigo's head. _"The target may have changed, but the purpose remains" _

Ichigo frowned, walking over to the bathroom mirror. Instead of his own reflection, his hollow's pale visage gazed back at him. "I don't have time for your riddles. Speak like a normal person or shut the hell up!" he said, his trademark scowl deepening.

The hollow smirked _"I'll let the attitude slide, what with what's been going on and all, but do try and cheer up. Your so boring when you're like this!" _H-ichigo noticed Ichigo's tightening fists, and rolled his eyes.

_"Look, your entire reason for living is to protect. It's in your instincts, it's in your blood. Hell, it's practically hard wired into your DNA. All you ever wanted was to protect your friends." _

"What is your point" Ichigo growled, not wanting to think about his friends right now. He knew he would have to deal with their deaths eventually, lest it eat him up inside. Just… not now. Not now.

_"That desire to protect is still there. That well of strength is still there. It just needs something new! You need to find something new to protect!" _H-ichigo said, as though he'd just done some grand magic trick.

"Are you suggesting I go out and replace my friends!" Ichigo had to keep from shouting at the mirror, lest the neighbors decided he was crazy.

H-ichigo frowned at him, a deep scowl outlining his normally cheery face. _"That is not what I meant. And you know it." _he said, his good mood gone. With that, he vanished, replacing his image with Ichigo's own reflection.

Ichigo, now tired from a long day, collapsed on the bed. He passed out almost immediately. But unlike the sleep after his crash, this sleep was fraught with dreams. Dreams that, though he would never admit it, made him weep.

_Still a flashback, but the next day: _

It was hard to find a steady job. He had no credentials in this world, so nothing that required any certification was open to him. And a lot of places wanted to at least see some ID when you applied; which he didn't have. This meant he ended up with manual labor jobs. He did a few here and there. He ran errands for people who needed them, he hauled crates, he swept floors. He did what he could for any bit of money. He had rent to pay after all. And things to buy. Not just groceries, but books. If he was going to live in this world, he would need to learn about it.

The fact that he spoke no english was a slight issue, but he found that most places of knowledge (like libraries) had computers that could function under different languages. And God bless the internet. It was thanks to it that he made the most startling discovery of all:

Superheroes were real!

Honest to God superheroes! Like the kind in a comic book! Men from space who could fly and bend steel with their bare hands! A man who dressed up like a bat and used an array of tool! And a man who could move faster then any car or plane! At first he had thought it was all a joke, but after seeing actual news footage of the heroes in action, he could not deny it.

A part of him scoffed at the villains though. Freaks like the Joker, Parasite, and the lamely titled Mirror Man would never pose a real threat in his world… but he supposed he wasn't in his world anymore.

Apparently anyone could be a superhero if they had the power or at the very least, the skill. He could easily use his powers to take down crime. He could protect people, like he loved, and make sure no one would come to harm if he could help it.

On the other hand, this was his chance to step back from the hero game. This world already had a multitude of able bodied heroes, it didn't really need another. This could be his chance to live a normal, peaceful life. He could settle down and… and…

And who was he kidding? He could never live with himself if even one person got hurt and he had the power to prevent it. As much as he may try to kid himself, Ichigo just wasn't cut out for a life of peace and tranquility. It just wasn't in his nature. It **was ** in his nature though to **be **a hero, a protector, a guardian.

_Flashback End: _

Ichigo walked into his bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror. His reflection was his own. His hollow was not haunting him tonight, as it sometimes did.

Looking down at his hand, he performed the same ritual he had ever since the day he had decided he would become a protector for this city.

Let it not be said that being forcibly de-aged and then re-aged did not have some perks. Besides the fact that it made him look a little older then he actually was, it had also had an interesting effect on his ability to call on Zangetsu. The large cleaver had appeared in his hand as soon as he willed it too. He loved his shiki quite dearly, but knew he wouldn't get a chance to use it as often as he would like. He had no doubt that if he went around town with this hulking cleaver, people would be more likely to assume he was chop happy villain then a hero.

But the best was yet to come. With a thought, Zangetsu shifted before his eyes. The sword with which he had protected so many shifted through every form it had had: Shiki, Banki, the fullbringer version, and even the serrated blade that he had summoned after he'd gotten his powers back to fight Ginjo. Each blade, while all being Zangetsu, were all different in their own way. Some were better for speed, others for defense, and some for straight up combat. And every time his sword changed, so did his clothes (Old Man Zangetsu had explained it was because the blade and his robe/armor were spiritually linked, and could not be changed separately). He'd have to think strategically which blade he wanted to use each time he fought (something his Hollow assured him he'd be lousy at… damn Hollow).

Ichigo looked up in the mirror, not even flinching when he saw his ghastly visage. The Hollow Mask that encompassed his face was not the one he had mastered as a Vizard. Instead, it was the Mask that he had called into being after Ulquiorra had technically killed him. The two horns still sharp as spear points, and the Hollow assured him could be used to gore someone if necessary. Or hold them long enough to blast a Cero through their flesh (his inner Hollow had never mellowed out and gotten less violent, despite his fondest wishes for the opposite).

Of course, once he had decided to become a hero, and had trained his powers until they were sufficiently back in working order, he'd found himself stuck. He didn't know anything about patrolling or how to find a crime in progress. He'd always relied on his ability to sense spiritual pressure to point him in the direction of the ass he needed to kick. But here, where apparently no one had spiritual pressure for him to sense, he had been stuck gliding around the city, looking for crime to stop. You'd think that in a place like New York, that shouldn't be very hard!

But fate has a funny way of operating. Sometimes the situation just falls right into your lap…

_Flashback: Fourth Month After Arrival _

Ichigo sighed as he crossed the street, heading towards the Bank. He needed to cash his paycheck (which for convenience was made out to Cash), pay his bills, buy this weeks groceries, then see if he could get some training done before 'patrol' (which really just consisted of him flying over New York at high speeds, looking for someone to beat up or save). Training wasn't so bad, as long as he kept his normal senses open so he could hear if someone approached his position. He had been using abandoned sewer tunnels, and decrepitate warehouses as his training ground so far (which there was a shocking number of).

But just as Ichigo neared the bank, he heard the sound of gunfire, and the screams of people. People around him screamed and ran, few stopping to think of calling the police. From his position he could make out several armed thugs, wearing ski masks, robbing the bank.

In a burst of speed, Ichigo was in an alley to the side of the building. In a burst of black fire, Ichigo assumed his disguise. It wasn't much different from what he used to wear in bankai mode, but now with his horned mask to cover his face. He figured to deal with these basic armed thugs, he'd just use his bankai blade, incase he needed the speed to save the hostage.

Focusing his spiritual energy, Ichigo released a powerful Getsuga Tenshou on the wall before him, completely destroying it and causing his body to be obscured by a cloud of smoke and rubble. He could hear the robbers shouting in alarm, along with the people inside.

A single step turned into a flash step, and Ichigo was right beside one of the crooks. He grabbed the man by the back of the head, and slammed it against the plexiglass next to him. The glass, along with the man's nose, cracked. As the man's hands flew to his face, Ichigo punched the man in the sternum, resisting the urge to use his full strength and simply tear the man's heart out. The man gasped, and Ichigo finished it by throwing him through the plexiglass, where he continued to fly until he collided with one of his accomplices.

One of the thugs tried to open fire with what looked to be an assault riffle. Ichigo was behind him in an instant, a kick to the back of the leg bringing him to one knee. He wrapped his arm around the man's head and used his other arm to point the gun at the ceiling, the bullets not striking anyone. Eventually lack of oxygen caused the man to pass out, and Ichigo let go before he killed the man.

"Stop right there or the bitch dies!" another nameless thug says behind him, Ichigo turning to see a handgun pointed at himself, while a middle aged woman was held close to the robber's chest, knife at her throat.

Ichigo turned, allowing his full visage to be seen by everyone in the room. There were only four robbers left to deal with, and Ichigo could hear the sound of sirens on their way. One of the tellers must have managed to trip the silent alarm before the thieves rounded them up. Good.

"What the hell are you!" the man with the hostage asked, his voice shaking as he took in the sight before him. A tall, thin yet muscular man, dressed in black robes and a white cord-like belt. That was the most normal part of him. In his hand he held a long thin looking sword, like something he'd seen out of the karate movies as a kid. It was solid black, and he could swear flames were flickering across the edge of the blade. But it was the face… the face was the stuff of nightmares: It was like a horrifying skeleton. A grin that would have made the clown from Gotham proud stretched across its visage. From the crown of the had down to the cheeks were blood red marks. Then, on either side of the head, thick horns, like some devil from the bowls of hell, curled thick horns that ended in spear-like points.

The… thing took a step forward, the chain that he hadn't noticed before on the end of its sword clinked, sending a shiver of fear up his spine. He stopped the shaking of his as he kept the gun trained on the beast. "I said stay where you are!" he cried, pressing the knife against the woman's throat. He could feel her heart beating fast against his chest, beating in time with his own fear. Hers' was fear of dying at his hand. His was fear of dying at the creature's.

The creature seemed to tilt its head as it looked at him, and the thief watched as his fellow robbers trained their guns on him, though none of them fired off a shot for fear of either hitting each other or provoking the monster. The thing seemed to lean forward slightly, then it was gone in a blur.

Before he could shout in alarm, something grabbed his wrist while something else sliced across his back. The pain he felt was excruciating, as though something had pierced him to the very core of his being. It was too much for him, and his eyes rolled back into his head as he passed out.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow as the man keeled over. He looked down at Zangetsu, the black energy flickering like a fire. He had never hit a living human with his blade before. He wasn't even sure he could, it being a weapon of a spiritual being and all. However, it looked like the weapon could easily effect the body of a mortal man.

_**"Not only that, Ichigo, but the wound inflicted was two-fold" **_Zangetsu's voice rang out as the world slowed down, and the colors muted to grays as the two conversed in Ichigo's head.

"What do you mean?" Ichigo thought, not needing to say anything aloud now.

_**"While my sword form may inflict physical wounds, it is still, at its heart, a weapon of the soul. Thus, the wound dealt to this man was, as I said two-fold. One to his physical body, and one to his soul." **_

"Damn. That sounds painful. It's not fatal is it?" Ichigo asked. He only wanted to hurt the man a little for endangering innocent lives. He didn't want to kill him. From his research, heros tended not to kill on this world. He only wanted to kill if absolutely necessary.

_**"The wound to his soul is only as lethal as it is to the body. This man will live, but you have dealt him a serious pain he will carry for sometime." **_Zangetsu said seriously.

Ichigo nodded as the world returned to normal. Two of the remaining three looked on as their pal collapsed, and raised their guns to fire. Ichigo knew that if they did, there was no way he'd be able to protect all the hostages. So, with a thought and a flick of the wrist, he unleashed a wide Getsuga Tenshou towards the two.

They could only stare open mouthed for a second before they remembered to fire. But by then it was too late. The black and red energy knocked their guns aside like toys, throwing them high into the air, and threw the two thieves back into the wall with a thud. They slid to the floor in a heap.

That left only one thug to deal with.

Said thug was really starting to panic. It was suppose to be easy! They had had it all planned out! But they had never expected a… a… monster to show up and beat the shit out of them! A monster who could apparently move faster then they could see and was brutally vicious.

Stanley (the only thug left) had never been one much for guns. He could never fire one properly to save his life. No, in this team of robbers, his job had been far more… destructive. He had built the bomb that was meant to blow the vault door. And given the thickness of your standard bank vault, the bomb was sure to deliver one heck of a blast, and would most likely be fatal if you got caught in the blast.

So the way Stanley figured it, this monster clearly fancied itself a hero, and would want to protect the hostages. So maybe he could distract it, and then make his getaway.

"Get back! I've got a bomb!" he screamed, making the monster halt its advance. Seeing it stop, he gave a shaky smirk "If you care about these hostages, you'd better get them out of here; cause this thing is gonna go off in" he pressed the timer start button "forty five second!" he said, tossing the bomb at the creature before making a break for it.

With a single flash step, Ichigo caught the bomb, and a second took him in front of Stanley. Seeing Ichigo suddenly appear in front of him made Stanley want to piss himself. "No… wait, please don't hurt me!" Stanley pleaded. Ichigo responded with a punch to the face, which laid poor Stan flat.

That left the bomb problem. Now, Ichigo could admit he knew nothing about bombs, or how to stop them. And since there wasn't enough time for someone more experienced to get there, he'd have to put the bomb somewhere it couldn't hurt anyone.

A flash step put him outside the bank, and thirty seven seconds to go. Looking up, he took off into the sky, rising higher and higher above the buildings. When he thought he was high enough, he tossed the bomb away from him even higher, and followed it with a Getsuga Tenshou.

The black energy collided with the bomb, detonating it, but thankfully it was high enough that the explosion didn't harm anyone.

He quickly flew back towards the bank, both to make sure the people were okay, and to make sure none of the crooks had regained consciousness and somehow managed to get away.

Apparently the explosion in the sky was enough to get plenty of attention, and he could already hear sirens closing in. He could hear people crying out when they saw him, his monstrous masked visage getting a plethora of reactions. Some called for him to stand down, others asked what his name was. He ignored both in favor of his task. Casting an eye over the hostages, he could see that despite being shook up over the experience, they didn't appear to be in any serious harm. That done, he calmly walked out of the bank, ignored the officers pointing guns at him, and flash stepped away, leaving behind a stunned crowd.

Not bad for a first day's work.

_Flashback End: _

The bank heist was quite a way to start a career, and the news had been all over it. Apparently superheroes were like celebrities in this world. But unlike Don Kanonji, the heroes here could pull off their claims.

The general consensus was that his appearance in the city was a good thing. Some people argued that his methods were violent, and that he wasn't the type of person they should be idolizing as a hero. However, they were quickly shouted down by all the supporters, especially the people he'd saved.

They were, however, having trouble coming up with a name for him. That was something Ichigo had found strange, as he had never needed to hide his identity from anyone before. It was kind of like when he had hid his spiritual powers from his family, but on a much larger scale. He had considered calling himself Zangetsu, in honor of his Zanpakuto, but he doubted anyone would get that.

Well, since he hadn't left the people he'd saved a name, they had taken it upon themselves to do the deed for him. Seemed people wanted to put a name to the face of the hero that saved them. Right now two names were very popular: One was the Reaper, in regards to his appearance, and the way the criminals described the feeling his spiritual pressure made them feel. The other was The Guardian, coined by the woman he had saved from having her throat cut. She said that when he had wrapped her in his arms, she had never doubted for a moment she was safe. She had said he was like a guardian angel, and the name stuck. Well, except for the angel part, that was quickly dropped after a while.

Since then he had gotten a lot better at patrolling. It had taken him five months, but he had trained his spiritual pressure to sense the intent of mortal humans, allowing him to pick out hot spots of danger. It wasn't perfect, as in a city as large as New York, there was plenty of negativity to go around; especially in high crime areas. These were the parts of the city he tended to spend his time in, as the odds were pretty good he would find someone in need of his help.

Sadly, one harsh lesson he had learned was one all heros had to learn sooner or later: You can't save everyone. He couldn't hope to be everywhere at once, and no matter how much he did, there would always be more. Sometimes, he just wasn't quick enough. When he had first been training his senses, he often came upon the scene of the crime after the worst had happened. When that happened, he was thankful for the size of his mask, as if often hid the tears he shed for the victims he could not help.

And that brought him to where he was today. There had been a string of arsons in the neighborhood he frequented, and he had been beating himself up over not being able to catch the scumbag who was behind it. Many people had been left injured or dead, and those that hadn't had still been left homeless.

But tonight would be his night. Ichigo looked over his shoulder, noting that the rain had stopped. Good, he never cared much for the rain. Looking in the mirror, he saw his human face gazing back at him. He would maintain his human form until he got outside, then… Zangetsu appeared in his hand, ready for use. Ichigo smirked; this certainly wasn't what he had been expecting his life would be like a year ago. Which reminded him…

Ichigo walked into his bed room and looked at the corner farthest from the bed. There, on a little stand, were a few candles and some flowers. He hadn't had any pictures on him when he came through the gate, so this was the best he could do. Every night, before he went out, he stopped for a moment and prayed to his fallen family and friends, hoping that wherever they were, that they were happily looking down on him. He knew it wasn't the perfect life they might have wished for him, but he was doing the best he could.

Ichigo wiped away a tear as he thought of his little sisters. Every day he wished he could have somehow taken them through to the other side with him. But he knew that was impossible… but that didn't make it any less painful. And it was one of the reasons he had to keep soldiering on; for the little girls of this world, so that they might grow up and live the lives his sisters now never would. Ichigo let out one last shuddering breath before standing, and wiping a stray tear off his face.

He was ready now.

As he left the apartment, he made sure to turn off the TV behind him. The TV had been on mute anyway, which was surprising given the story. Guess he'd just been to busy thinking. Apparently this world had a way better space program then his had; because a bunch of astronauts had just left Earth. And not for the moon either! No, these guys were heading to the Red Planet. They were off to explore Mars….

**End of Chapter 1**

**Well there you have it! This chapter filled in the major points of Ichigo's life between his arrival and when he'll join the League. As the last paragraph should tell you, the events of Episode One are right around the corner. So expect Ichigo to be fighting some white martians come next chapter. He'll also be meeting his future teammates, and a whole bunch of other stuff. But you guys get why I had to make this chapter right? Wouldn't it have been weird if I had just made the next chapter where he joins the League, without explaining all of this? It'd be weird wouldn't it! Now, it's not an exact recount of every moment, and I will have flashbacks if I think I need to fill something in. But for now, I think this is good. Ichigo has a house, a city, an alternate identity, and a clear grasp on what he wants to do with his life. **

**Now, why New York: One, I'm lazy and I didn't want to think up a brand new city. Two, I thought a city with some instant name value would be good, as opposed to some no name town in the middle of nowhere at some point in the US. Also, as a major city, bad stuff is as likely to hit it as it is Gotham or Metropolis. You notice I didn't name many New York landmarks outside of Central Park... that would be because I do not live in New York, and am not intimately familiar with it. Trust me, not a big deal. **

**His Hero Name: Amongst the good guys, he'll mostly be called the Guardian. It's a play on his name, and way better then calling him Strawberry. Would you look up to a hero called Strawberry? I didn't think so. Now, people familiar with his rather aggressive nature may call him the Reaper. It's fits, it's frightening, it works. Ichigo didn't pick it himself, so it's subject to the public he protects. **

**Ichigo's Sword: Okay, I cheated here. I used the temporal havoc played on him in the last chapter to allow this. Ichigo can use any sword he's had from the start of the series to this point. But for the reasons mentioned in chapter, he won't be using the Shiki much, unless he's facing a weak monster; never a human opponent. He'll mostly stick to Bankai and the Fullbringer sword. His outfit will also change to reflect this. When he uses Bankai, he has the Bankai robes and the glove thing... when it's the Fullbringer sword, it's the weird bone armor. I copped out because I like both outfits, and I think both would work for different things. As it said in the chapter, a wound dealt by the sword inflicts a wound to both the body and soul (which is extremely painful).  
><strong>

**Ichigo's Mask: This appears whenever he uses his powers. It is the horned mask. He cannot use the two powers individually. **

**And that's about it. Yes Ichigo was kind of mopey this chapter, but give the guy a break, he just lost his whole family. I assure he won't be this way in every chapter. Alright, that should do it. I hoped you all liked it, and I hope you'll all stick around for the next chapter. If you did like it, please leave a review (as always, no flames). **

**Join us next time when we enter into the territory of Justice League; Episode One: Secret Origins. Or as I like to call it: **

**Ichigo and the Martian Invasion.  
><strong>


	3. Ichigo and the Martian Invasion Part 1

**Greetings Reader, how are you this fine Friday/Saturday! I hope you're well. I myself have been very busy with college, which takes up so much time. But the end of the year draws ever closer, so there's that to look forward to. Since I last saw you here, Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's day has past. I knew I had to finish this before April Fools, because let's be honest, when an author updates on April Fools, do you really expect a real chapter? So I managed to go get the editing done, so right now let's take a look at some viewer comments:  
><strong>

**baltz00: Thanks, and I agree. Ichigo did know some English, but not a lot. You're right to say he's intelligent, so he did have an easier time learning. He doesn't speak it fluently, but he knows enough for day to day purposes.  
><strong>

**taichidecade: Thanks, glad you like it.  
><strong>

**snow299: Glad you like it.  
><strong>

**pyromania101: True, the Joker is a monster, and no doubt his soul is black as coal. As for the "No-Killing policy of the League" I'll address that with each member. Because while I'll by that Superman, Batman, the Flash and even the Green Lantern wouldn't kill; I'm surprised it never came up that Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl (with her violent tendencies and heavy mace especially) never kill. Martian Manhunters kind of a swing vote, and could really go either way. Ichigo won't kill all the time, but if it came down to it, he wouldn't lose a lot of sleep over doing the deed. I couldn't decide between the two names, so I let them be subjective to the populace. As for a girl friend... I don't know at this point.  
><strong>

**Blood Brandy: Can Ichigo beat Superman... maybe. I think so, probably. He'd need to constantly bombard Supes, and not give him an inch because, like it or not, Superman is physically stronger then Ichigo when he's not Final Getsuga mode (if he was, then its more of a toss up). Ichigo's power is more energy projection and speed, with only moderately increased durability. It'd be quite a fight, and Ichigo would be heavily injured and need plenty of bed rest afterwards. Mostly, I say it all depends on the setting. But between you and me, I don't like Superman all that much, so on a personal level I'd say yeah.  
><strong>

**Zangetsu Ossan: Glad you like it, and sadly no, there is no schedule. The most I have is my profile where I update how close each chapter is to completion.  
><strong>

**shadow juubi overlord: Glad you liked it.  
><strong>

**Infinite Freedom: Well glad you like it, and yeah, those walkers are gonna get it.  
><strong>

**drake202: Thanks, I find a little exposition never hurt anything.  
><strong>

**Dark Vizard447: I'm sure the chapters will get longer as it goes on. And you're right, compared to Naruto, there aren't a whole lot of Bleach Justice League Crossovers. Ah well, that just means I'm contributing to fandom expansion.  
><strong>

**Drake G. Reaper: Yeah, the last chapter was necessary to get Ichigo out of that funk. Ichigo a temporary lantern? It sounds cool, but I'm not sure how that'll work; we'll see. And yeah, I think Ichigo has the potential to get along well with not only Superman, but the rest of the league. It all depends on first impressions.  
><strong>

**Random Fanfic Fan: The Fullbring sword is wider, like his Shikai, allowing it to be used as a shield, but also is better at Stabbing then the Bankai, which is a Slashing type sword. I'd also say the Fullbring sword is heavier, by comparison, and strikes harder. However, the Getsuga Tenshous from it aren't as strong as they are from the Bankai. As for the Gotei 13: I picture all the captains, with vice captains (traitors and fillers included). Arrancars: I was thinking the Espada, SOME of the Fractions, and Nell (whether her fraction survived is still being debated in my head).  
><strong>

**Anyways Antithesis: Glad you liked it. And yeah, I couldn't decide whether to call him the Reaper or the Guardian, so in the end I decided to make so that his name will change depending on who's addressing him.  
><strong>

**mossfire: In the manga, I think Ichigo is either 17 or 18. In my story, some time has passed, though purposefully specified, and then during the break up of his reality, he was aged a little. So, the Ichigo in this story is about... 22.  
><strong>

**FanFictionFan345: Thanks.  
><strong>

**EVA-Saiyajin: Thanks. Ichigo's power: Physically I'd say he was stronger then Flash and John J'onzz. Speed wise, he's faster then everyone on the ground or in the air except Flash and MAYBE Superman (Ichigo's speed is mainly the result of compressing his spiritual pressure and Flash Steps). Durability wise he's more durable then Flash, Hawk-Girl, and J'ohn J'onzz, and Batman (though the bugger never knows when to stay down), I'd say he's somewhere around Superman and Wonder Woman's level, but only because of his healing factor (he can still be shot and his bones still break). Energy Projections: This is where Ichigo shines, as his only real competition is Green Lantern. Now, Ichigo has more energy in his body then the Lantern has in his Ring in one charge. However, the Lantern has more precision with his Lantern energy, and can conserve it better. Basically Ichigo has more power, John has more precision. Both have their place. And that's Ichigo compared to his teammates.  
><strong>

**GenoBeast: Thanks.  
><strong>

**Animeguy1101: Thanks. Yes, even that one, though it & the Shikai won't show up as often as the Bankai and the Fullbringer. Also, I haven't seen the movie with Hell in it, so I may only make a slight mention of that one. Don't expect to see it anytime soon. Yes, Ichigo has access to all his Hollow's powers, and talks in a Hollowfied voice. Yup, some call him The Guardian, some call him The Reaper. As for his English, I was thinking about having Martian Manhunter help out with that.  
><strong>

**Shin'en of the Chaotic Destiny: Glad you like it.  
><strong>

**asredwer: Thanks.  
><strong>

**Jet Black Jr: I felt I couldn't use Unlimited, because I needed Ichigo to be there when the League was formed. But don't worry, I plan to carry through to the Unlimited Series. As for the Shikai/Bankai, I explained why the Shikai wouldn't be popular in this world. Also, with the villains Ichigo will go up against, it's necessary, plus it helps boost his speed.  
><strong>

**Baron von Nobody: Thanks. Knowing Batman, he'll not only try and find out Ichigo's identity but create a contingency plan like he does all the others. Wonder what he'd do for Ichigo?  
><strong>

**Acedia's Apathetic Simplicity: Thanks, and don't worry, here it is!  
><strong>

**Spartan S-999: Here ya go!  
><strong>

**Delphine Pryde: Well here you go.  
><strong>

**ryotanimoto16: Well here's an update!  
><strong>

**hannz12: Yes. Ichigo is indeed Bad ass.  
><strong>

**Windlich: There is no kill, like Overkill. As for Kido, I'm still debating on that, as it would give Ichigo a larger arsenal.  
><strong>

**BlackJoker013: Thanks**

**dragonheart967: Thanks, I'm glad my hard work. And yeah, not everyone will approve of Ichigo, just like how not everyone approves of the other supers. I know what you're talking about with the crush thing, and I agree that's annoying. I assure you, if any relationships are built, it will be slow and gradual.  
><strong>

**Dragon Alchemist: Thanks, and the rest of the League will be showing up pretty soon.  
><strong>

**mistyfoxmaid: Thanks.  
><strong>

**MP Enchanter: Well here you go.  
><strong>

**DragonWolfStar: While Ichigo can use those, it's likely he won't. If he were to use the post-Dangai Zangetsu, he would become super strong... but ultimately lose his powers. As for the Hell sword... I haven't seen the movie, so I likely won't use it until I do. And thanks.  
><strong>

**Deadzepplin: Ichigo can fire Ceros from his horns, yes.  
><strong>

**Cardinel: While the majority will be done from Ichigo's perspective, I will occasionally switch around to the others. For the bonds of Friendship, I will do my best to try and keep that, as well as the forming of bonds that will happen over time. As for who will be close to Ichigo, I feel that Ichigo is the type of person who could be friends with anyone, if they gave him a chance. And lastly: Ichigo will not outright say he's from a (as far as he knows) destroyed parallel world. He'll try and keep his identity a secret, but like in the show, things may happen that push those secrets close to the light, and from there, who's to say.  
><strong>

**Masked Bard of Chaos: Thanks.  
><strong>

**CrimsonChains: Thanks, I'm trying my best to keep Ichigo in character. As for his hair... I hadn't thought of it, as it isn't really relevant. Long I guess?**

**There you are folks. This chapter, we finally start to enter the events of the series, and the deadly White Martian Invasion. So, let's not dally another moment longer, and charge straight ahead into:  
><strong>

**Guardian of the League: Chapter 2: Ichigo and the Martian Invasion Part 1**_  
><em>

_Ichigo opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a dark place, made of stone as far as the eye could see. Without thinking, he moved further into the darkness, before coming to a stop before a large, intricately carved door. Ichigo didn't know how, but he knew he shouldn't be here. Against his better judgement, he leaned forward and began to open the door. Ichigo knew this was a bad idea, but he felt as though he was watching a movie, and had no effect on what was going on around him. _

_The door opened, and Ichigo's vision was flooded with white light, blinding him. He felt a sudden rush of air, and the roar of… something. Whatever it was, it filled him with fear beyond imagining… _

_-The Guardian-_

Ichigo jerked up in his bed, startled from the dream world. He shook his head, trying to shake off the strange vision he'd been having for a few months now.

_**"Please… help me…" **_

Ichigo gripped his head. That part always followed the dream, but he didn't know what it meant. He had had Zangetsu and Hichigo look all over his mind and soul; but whatever was causing the vision was too faint to leave a trace behind. Ichigo himself had scoured the city for answers, but so far there was no knows of anything like his dream was describing.

Realizing that sleep would not be coming back to him, Ichigo sat up and ran his hand through his already messy hair. He had the day off today, so he was hoping to sleep in. Oh well, maybe something good was on TV.

Switching on the TV, Ichigo flipped channels until he came to a stop on what appeared to be a news story. Until he'd become a 'super-hero', he'd hardly ever watched the news. But the news often reported on incidents he wouldn't have known about otherwise, such as fires across towns or car chases; so it had proved to be helpful.

But today's news was not about some fresh disaster, instead Ichigo found himself looking at one of the most famous heros on the planet: Superman.

According to the news coverage, the man of steel was going around the globe, disabling the worlds nuclear warheads, in a bid for greater world peace.

Ichigo wasn't sure how to feel about that. On the one hand, maybe taking away the weapons would reduce the possibility that someone would use them. On the other, what if they were needed to combat a global threat? It was a complicated issue, and Ichigo didn't claim to know all the answers, but he couldn't help but feel like they had rushed into the this…

Well, he might as well suit up and go on patrol. It wasn't like he had anything else planned for the day. Maybe he should try making some new friends?

_-The Guardian-_

Ichigo sighed as he soared through the sky. He had spent most of the day productively defending the city. He'd stopped two robberies, an assault in progress, and saved a suicide jumper from leaping off a bridge into the river. Now he was on the edge of town, near some sort of substation. He wasn't sure what it did, but from what he gathered; it was some sort of space monitoring station. He wasn't sure what had drawn him there, only that tonight might be a good night to stick around. He wasn't sure if it was his instincts, or that new annoying voice in the back of his head that sent him those weird dreams and asked for help without giving him anything to work with.

But it looked like the place was quiet, so he might as well-

**BOOM!**

The top of the station exploded into a hundred pieces, burning fragments falling from the sky. Ichigo narrowed his eyes and focused his senses. He could detect three lifeforms nearby, but they weren't normal. In fact he was having trouble picking them up, whatever they were. Either way, they were making a break for it away from the wreckage and he had some questions for them.

Zipping as close as he could, Ichigo saw it was three scientist fleeing the scene. But something was wrong. They didn't feel… human?

Still, they might need help. And even if they didn't, there were questions to answer about an exploding building. Like "Hey, what do you know about that exploding building?"

So with a simple thought, Ichigo appeared before the fleeing scientists via Flash Step, stopping them. Deciding to use discretion before launching any attacks, Ichigo asked the obvious "Are you alright"

The one on the left, a woman, answered "We are unharmed" Okay, weird answer, and not helping to put him at ease.

Alright, next obvious question "What happened here."

The one on the right, an older man with grey hair spoke "We do not know. Please, we have to get out of here." he said urgently.

Ok, Ichigo's patients had worn out. Frankly he was surprised he'd held on this long. "You're not going anywhere. I don't know if you noticed, but a building just blew up, and you three are the only ones around. Now I expect you to answer my questions." he said, taking a step forward, his spiritual pressure rising slightly with his ire.

The one in the center sighed "We do not have time for this." he looked over his shoulder at his two comrades. He opened his mouth to speak, but what came out was a language unlike any Ichigo could claim to have ever heard of. Then, the man in the center threw a punch at him. From ten feet away.

Ichigo watched as the arm stretched like taffy to try and strike him in the chest. At the last second he got over his shock and caught the hand. This… guy (if he really was one) was lucky Ichigo hadn't opted to just lop his arm off.

Instead, he just pulled the guy off his feet with the intention of backhanding him into next week. Only instead, the man's body shifted and flowed like liquid, somehow ending up **behind** Ichigo, holding him in a choke hold with one arm pointed at his face. An arm with shifted into a white-ish looking blade!

Ichigo blinked, this was different. Normally he fought average criminals and the occasional super villain, but none quite like this. And now that he was close enough, Ichigo could tell this thing was not human. Humans, despite having no spiritual pressure of their own in this world, still resonated with the crystal clear spark that indicated they were alive. Whatever this was, was indeed alive… but the spark of life was murky and unnatural feeling.

Before the not-man could deliver the blow, Ichigo flashed stepped behind him, and released a low burst Getsuga Tenshou. The man was struck and cried out in pain. Then, before Ichigo's eyes, he changed.

He maintained his human shape, but his features melted away into a single blob of white and black, with a red dot where an eye might be. Ichigo noticed that where his attack had hit was a large burn mark, giving him an idea about how potent his sword might be against them.

_"EWWW! What the hell is that? It looks like a spoiled milk monster!" _Hichigo complained, rather put out by the bizarre looking creature.

The other two not-people exchanged glances, before altering their appearance to match their comrade, sans burn mark. They charged Ichigo, their sword like limbs ready to rend him to pieces.

Ichigo willed Zangetsu to change, and felt it take on the more triangular appearance it had had during his stint as a Fullbringer. He hardly took notice of the bone like armor that formed over his skin as he launched himself at the creatures, one of them coming at him head on, the other moving to flank him. The one with the burn mark seemed to be hanging back, unwilling to be dealt such an injury again.

Ichigo slashed and slashed, the white monster staying just out of reach of his blade. Finally it went on the offensive, and Ichigo found himself surprised by the ferocious speed of the creature. The two locked blades, and Ichigo was just about ready to fry it with a Getsuga Tenshou, but he needed a little more room to swing. Then, from behind him he heard the second one charging. It was a trap!… but not one that would end well for the creatures.

Ichigo easily teleported behind the white monster, which stopped itself just short of slamming into its comrade. But in that time, Ichigo had already lowered his head, a beam of red energy emerging from between his horns. Like a bolt of lightning it struck the creature that had tried to attack him from behind; blasting the top half off in a violent display.

The monster behind it just seemed to stare at the remains of its comrade, and Ichigo had the feeling it was shocked. It took one last look at Ichigo… then turned and bolted. Ichigo let him… it… go, he already knew who he'd interrogate. Turning, he saw the injured one trying to run off. It didn't get far.

Ichigo appeared right in front of it, and knocked it to the ground. Before it could get up, Zangetsu was in its face, back in Bankai mode, black fire dancing on the edge of the blade. The creature shied away from the fire, and Ichigo knew he had the advantage.

"Alright…" he said, allowing more of his inner hollow to sneak into his voice, knowing it had a rather disconcerting effect on people, and hoping the same was true of monsters "I've got a couple of questions for you, and if you want any chance of surviving the night, you're going to answer them." he moved the sword closer "Got that?"

The creature nodded, its face shifting back into a more human form, likely to speak to him easier. "Please… I'll talk" the creature felt humiliated. As a member of a superior species, it had not expected to be defeated so easily. Even now he had thoughts about escaping… but something about this monster kept him pinned. The aura that radiated off it poisoned the air, and projected a psychic wave of fear that acted on his most basic animal instincts. He knew this thing, whatever it was (and it certainly was not the same as the low class humans that populated the planet), it was an apex predator. It would have no trouble killing him. He shuddered as he remembered the red beam of death that had ended his comrade in arms.

Ichigo knew nothing of the creatures thoughts, thinking only of what to ask it, and what he would do when it couldn't answer anymore.

But that moment would never come. Because before Ichigo even got his first question, a heavy weight struck him from behind. The white creature he had let escape earlier had apparently found its courage and come back. Even now it was biting him, its oddly formed teeth having trouble breaking through reishi coated skin. Either way it was enough to knock him away from his prisoner, who quickly hightailed it out of there. He was joined by his partner, but Ichigo wasn't far behind. Soon they had entered the forest, with the Reaper hot on their heels.

But they weren't going to make it easy for him. Before his eyes their bodies shifted and melted, before taking the form of birds. Keeping track of a bird in the forest is difficult enough, but keeping track at night was near impossible. Ichigo tried to lock onto them with his spiritual senses but; since their spiritual pressure was so unlike a normal person's it was harder to keep track of. When he caught it it was obvious, but it kept changing, likely because they kept changing in their effort to escape him.

And so it went, for nearly an hour Ichigo tried to catch the monsters that had blown up the building. Sadly though it was not to be, and eventually Ichigo lost sight of one, then the other, leaving him alone in the woods.

Ichigo growled and punched the tree besides him in frustration, not caring as it splintered and cracked. He couldn't believe this! He had a crime, and a suspect, but no motive! What were those things? Where had they come from and why had they blown up that building?

For that matter, he'd only come the building because that voice in the back of his head had told him too. Did it know what was going on? Did it know what the creatures were? Was it one of them?

Too many questions. Ichigo's eyes narrowed to slits behind his mask. He had only one lead: the voice. It was time to make that voice talk. One way or another.

_-The Guardian-_

**The Next Night: **

Ichigo drew his curtains shut, and made sure all the lights were off. He had done his jobs quickly today (thankful there weren't more then a few errands) and come home. He checked the lock on his door, then went to his room.

This process had always been tricky for him, even when he had been in his own world. Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Ichigo started the dangerous (relative to him, anyway) process of meditation.

The process of diving into his spiritual world was not the same as conversing with it. When he talked to Zangetsu or Hichigo in the real world, he was in full control. But when he went inside… well sometimes things got complicated. When he'd done battle with his Hollow his body had gone on a rampage, and had to be contained by the Vizard. When he had been mastering the final Getsuga Tenshou, his real body had experienced the injuries he'd gotten on the inside.

That's why it was best to be prepared. Even if Hichigo had promised to be on his best behavior, Zangetsu would still be keeping an eye on him. And both would be on the look out for the mystery guest who was contacting Ichigo. And if any of them found the voice, they were going to trace it back to its source, or at least get it to answer some questions for once.

Ichigo opened his eyes, not surprised to find himself in the sideways world of his inner spirit. To his left was Old Man Zangetsu. To his right was his Inner Hollow, not affectionately dubbed Hichigo. The three shared a look, then split up to search the world. The two spirits had searched for the voice before, but now they did so with renewed vigor and seriousness, the weight of an unknown crisis on their mind.

Time passed, and Ichigo shifted through every corner of his mind. He sped past the section containing his memories, even now still finding the faces of his friends bringing tears to his eyes.

_"Oi! I think I've got something over here!"_ Hichigo called, a sneer spreading over his face at having found what the square and 'the king' couldn't. _"I found it lurking around the subconscious"_ he held up what looked like a faint green string, which trailed off into the void of the mind, and likely all the way back to the source.

Zangetsu and Ichigo approached, each taking hold of the string. The three each had an idea of what they were about to do, so no words were necessary. On the count of three, they pulled on the mental string, hoping this would get them in contact with whoever had been haunting their mind.

A sound slowly filtered into Ichigo's mind, distorted a weak, like it was coming from a broken speaker. But it was easy to tell exactly what sound it was: It was a scream. A scream of pain beyond recognition. Yet somehow, Ichigo got the feeling it wasn't from anything he was doing.

And then, there it was, the source of the voice. Ichigo had to admit, if it weren't for the creatures he'd seen earlier, this would be the most shocking thing he'd seen in a while. Still, when you'd dealt with Hollows, and Soul Reapers and the like, nothing was too surprising. Points for an interesting look though.

It was a green… mannish creature. The only real difference was the red eyes and the pointy head. It was breathing heavily, as though it had just run a marathon all in one minute flat. Ichigo could see burns on the creature, evidence of some torture, but they seemed to be fading quickly. So the creature was a fast healer; something to file away for later.

Ichigo figured he'd have to start "Hello. Who are you." Direct and too the point; behind him Hichigo rolled his eyes at the boys directness. "And for that matter, what are you?" No tact at all.

The creature coughed, before looking at Ichigo "I… thank you for bringing me here." He cast a look around, taking in the bizarre sideways city before looking back at Ichigo "My name is J'ohn J'onzz. And I am a martian." he said.

Ichigo's eyes widened. An alien? Seriously? Man this reality was weird. Ghost were on thing, but aliens? Heck, when he'd been researching this planet that was one of the things he'd found hardest to believe. But here was a living breathing alien right in front of him. Ichigo shook his head, remembering he had to focus.

He looked at J'ohn to see him studying Zangetsu and Hichigo with curiosity. "Why do you keep contacting me in my dreams?"

The martian sighed, something he seemed to be doing a lot "It was not you specifically; I was trying to contact anyone with substantial power to help me. I am being held prisoner!" he said, raising his voice towards the end.

Ichigo took a step forward "Who's holding you? Are they working for those strange creatures I saw blow up the observatory?"

John (because adding an apostrophe seems unnecessary) looked at Ichigo in alarm. He demanded to know what the creatures looked like, and when Ichigo described them, he shook his head in despair "Those monsters…. if they are doing what I think they are… then it may already be too late…" his body started to fade out, and both he and Ichigo strained to keep up the connection. But it was hopeless, Ichigo was too inexperienced and John was too weak. John called out to Ichigo, his voice fading fast "You have to free me! I am the only one who can help you stop it!"

Ichigo, though he feared he knew the answer, had to ask: "Stop what?"

"The Invasion…"

_-The Guardian-_

Ichigo watched as John faded away completely, unable to reveal his exact location. Even the normally cocky Hichigo looked pensive at the prospect of an alien invasion.

He was about to ask if they (mostly Zangetsu) had any advice on how they should proceed. But before he could, the entire world shook, and Ichigo was jettisoned out of his world to the real world, where he could currently hear panic in the streets.

He burst out of his door, making sure he was in normal attire, and ran outside the apartment complex. Apparently some time had past, because the sun had set and the stars were out. He also noticed he wasn't the only person out and about. The streets were swarmed with people, some pointing at the sky and shouting, others running about.

Catching the first person to run close, Ichigo asked the obvious "What the hell is going on?"

"It's like the end of the world man! Something just fell out of fucking sky!" he turned to look over his shoulder before breaking free and continuing to run, his eyes on the sky in case anything else started falling down.

Ichigo had heard enough anyway. Slipping into an alley he donned his costume in a familiar burst of black flame. The he flash stepped into the sky and headed in the direction of the smoke and police cars.

It didn't take long to find out what all the fuss was about. There, in the center of a massive creator (which thankful didn't look like it had hit any major structures, so so far the body count was still zero) was a large asteroid. At least, that's what it looked like from a distance. But as he got closer, Ichigo noted the coloring of the space rock: it was the same milky white and black as those monst-Aliens he corrected himself, that had blown up the observatory.

Looks like the hope of stopping the invasion before it began was now dead, given that he was pretty sure this was no coincidence… and it looked like the astroid was moving…

_-The Guardian-_

The 'asteroid' shuddered, shaking the ground and further scaring the already traumatized civilians. Then, like some demonic parody of an egg, it cracked. With a sound like lightning ripping across the sky, the stoney structure gave way as a long white appendage shot out of it. It was sharp like a spear on the end, and shaped not unlike a spider's leg. Soon another followed it, the two working in tandem to heave the massive body attached to them.

It was like a giant, white, moldy potato. It would have been funny were it not so incredibly large and menacing on its three spider legs. Dead center in its pale sickly looking body was a massive black eye, with a red dot in the center. The red dot rolled around in the 'head' taking in its surroundings. Finally, it landed on the people gathered below.

As soon as it did, Ichigo was on high alert. Years of dealing with Hollows told him to know the build up of energy when he sensed it. He flashed stepped in front of a group of very surprised reporters, his sword coming up with Getsuga Tenshou just in time to counter the alien's death ray. The two energies cancelled each other out, but the creature looked like it was readying another one.

Turning to the men with the cameras, he told them simply, but directly "Run. Now." Maybe it was the sight of his skeletal horned mask that told them things had just gotten real, or maybe it was the fact that at that moment, he deflected a particularly strong beam into a patch of unoccupied sidewalk, which exploded into powder. Either way, the men ran like frightened bunnies.

As they ran, Ichigo shifted his blade to its Fullbringer form, before flash stepping to the top of the beast. He saw the eye below him swivel in its socket to look at him, even as he plunged the blade into the top of the skull.

The beast roared and shook, and Ichigo cursed. Apparently he hadn't stabbed deep enough. The creature shook him off and fired a blast of energy at him at point blank range. He was lucky he was able to bring his sword in front of him like a shield. That didn't stop him from being rocketed through the air and into the pavement though.

He stood, and roared in frustration. To the few people still around to see it, it was quite the frightening sight.

With a single thought, he brought his power to bare between his two horns. He felt a powerful Cero build up between them, and aimed it at the center of its massive eye.

Even as he fired, the beast fired back, the two energies reaching a stalemate as they battled for supremacy. But that was Ichigo's plan. While the beast was distracted, he shifted Zangetsu into its more serrated bankai mode and fired a scythe of deadly black energy horizontally at one of its spider legs.

It worked, and the leg was severed, causing the alien invaders body to fall back, its energy beam trailing up the side of a skyscraper (Ichigo desperately hoped no one was still left in there by now) before simply firing into space. As for his Cero; now unimpeded, it struck the edge of the creatures eye, creating a sizable wound and sending waves of bizarre pus like blood splashing to the ground.

But Ichigo knew he couldn't let it rest. He flashed over the monster, his Getsuga Tenshou aimed at the new wound. The creature struggled to raise itself up off the ground, but it was too late. The energy wave cut like a scythe through corn as it slammed into the extraterrestrial, sending a shockwave of debris into the air, briefly obscuring the people's view of the monster and their hero…

But as the dust settled, Ichigo could be clearly seen standing on air over the destroyed body of the monster. As Ichigo looked over the people, glad he had kept the collateral damage to a minimum, he saw several people pointing at him…

Then the screams started, and Ichigo realized that the people were looking at something **behind **him! Turning, his eyes widened behind his skeletal mask.

"Oh hell"

Two more comets, at least as large as the first were baring down on the city. Already Ichigo could see cracks in the them, and he knew it was going to be more of the same.

_**"Help ME!" **_Ichigo suddenly clutched his head as John's voice shouted at him. And with the voice came a flood of information, and a location where Ichigo knew he would find the martian. But he couldn't leave.

_"I don't know if you can see what I see" _Ichigo thought loudly back at the voice, trying his best not to feel ridiculous (he never felt like this when talking to his soul-personalities) _"But these freaks are falling from the sky; and I am NOT about to let them hurt innocent people you hear me!" _

The voice was quiet, and Ichigo got the feeling it was contemplating something. While it did, he quickly flashed into the air, using Getsuga Tenshous to guide the falling monsters away from the buildings and people.

Despite his best efforts, one of the falling eggs crashed into what Ichigo was sure was an insurance building. He could only pray that no one had been inside. Already the mile high legs of the alien were breaking out.

But, in a rare moment of competency, it was suddenly knocked down by a well placed missile strike from a pair of fighter jets. Before Ichigo's eyes, three more joined them, and already he could see tanks rumbling down the street. Cops and soldiers alike were hustling civilians out of the hot zone.

"Good" he muttered, charging both a cero and his sword. He didn't know what these things wanted, but he knew they weren't going to it on his watch.

He charged the other alien while the military focused on the first. Now knowing their weak point, he quickly blasted a Cero point blank at the monsters leg, before severing the other two with a well placed Getsuga; rendering it immobile, though not harmless. The eye locked onto Ichigo, and glowed with hate as it fired a beam at him.

Ichigo held up his sword to defend, and struggled to not fly back. Finally, drawing on his inner strength, he deflected the beam away from him… and conveniently enough, right through the other alien's side; making it sway as its juices fell to the ground below. This made the already damaged creature much easier for the tanks below, which fired a rapid salvo of explosive pain.

Not forgetting what was important, Ichigo quickly finished off the limbless alien, ending its misery. But as he did, John's voice once again rang in his head about needing him to come somewhere with great urgency. And before Ichigo could tell him to buzz off, John mentioned that he could help him stop the invasion. That got his attention alright. Assuming this martian wasn't lying (and if it was, he would make sure it paid), he couldn't afford to pass up its advice and endanger so many people.

But he couldn't just leave either. He didn't want the people below thinking he was abandoning them. His eyes searched the ground for a moment, before locating someone who looked like they were in charge. A flash step later, and Ichigo was standing before a rather surprised looking general.

The look disappears in an instant and is replaced by stern determination. A few of the soldiers standing by his side snap to attention, recognizing Ichigo as the hero of the city; and plan to pay him the same respect they would Batman or Superman were this taking place in their base city.

"General" Ichigo speaks first, his hollowfied voice somewhat disturbing to those who can hear it "I've discovered a possible way to stop these creatures. Can you handle things here?"

The general lips twitches slightly "We should be able to hold down the base here for a while. You go take care of business. Do you need any backup?" he saids swiftly.

Ichigo shook his head. "Faster if I go by myself." and with that he shot off into the sky. Once he was high enough, he turned to face the direction John J'onzz said. With a single thought, Ichigo flash stepped as far as he could towards it. Then he did it again. And again. He flash stepped as fast as he could for as long as he could; and when he could no longer do that, he flew.

In a matter of minutes, he had covered quite a bit of ground, and soon found himself over a large canyon. Flying down, he saw a large military force moving towards what appeared to be the entrance of some sort of secret base. As he got closer he was able to pick out three figures leaving the base; and his eyes widened behind his mask as he saw who they were: Batman, Superman, and… some green guy? Wait! That was John the Martian! He looked… different. Illusion? Shapeshifting maybe? Oh well, he'd figure it out later.

Whoever they were, it looked like the military had no intention of letting them through. In fact it looked like these guys were pointing guns at them! What was going on here?

And then, before his very eyes, the army officers' bodies all shifted into very familiar shapes… the same shapes as those things that had attacked him outside the monitoring building.

Ichigo cracked his neck; looks like round two of the alien invasion was about to get underway.

**End of Chapter 2**

**Well there you go folks, the Invasion has begun! The White Martians are invading the Earth its up to our heroes to stop them! Next time Ichigo meets the rest of the League, and the war against the Invaders begins! **

**Because so many have asked the question, here's a basic rundown of Ichigo's powers compared to the rest of the League:**

****Physically I'd say he was stronger then Flash and John J'onzz. Whether he's stronger then Batman can be debated, but Batman has better hand to hand combat, no question (though Ichigo has a sword so, hey). As for Green Lantern, the Lantern has the ring to augment his strength, so that's kind of a toss up.  
><strong>**

****Speed wise, he's faster then everyone on the ground or in the air except Flash and MAYBE Superman (Ichigo's speed is mainly the result of compressing his spiritual pressure and Flash Steps). ****

****Durability wise he's more durable then Flash, Hawk-Girl, and J'ohn J'onzz, and Batman (though the bugger never knows when to stay down), I'd say he's somewhere around Superman and Wonder Woman's level, but only because of his healing factor (he can still be shot and his bones still break). If a building falls on him, it would hurt him WAY more then the other two.  
><strong>**

****Energy Projections: This is where Ichigo shines, as his only real competition is Green Lantern. Now, Ichigo has more energy in his body then the Lantern has in his Ring in one charge. However, the Lantern has more precision with his Lantern energy, and can conserve it better. Basically Ichigo has more power, John has more precision. Both have their place. And that's Ichigo compared to his teammates.****

****So there you go. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, please feel free to tell me in a review. If I didn't well I'm sorry to here that, and you're welcome to offer some helpful critics in a review, but as always no Flames, as those are no good for anyone. ****

****Join us Next Time For another exciting chapter as we continue with: ****

****Ichigo and the Martian Invasion Part 2!  
><strong>**


	4. Ichigo and the Martian Invasion Part 2

**Ah, it's been a while hasn't it? Is everyone having a nice summer? I hope so, I know I am. I love having the free time to right more, which is why this chapter got done sooner then expected (Yeah, I know, three months isn't quick, but at least it wasn't longer!) Before we have a talk, let's look at some review responses:**

**pyromania101: Thank you, I'll keep that in mind for later chapters. I've also found a way to scale everyone, which I talk about after the chapter. While Horned Ichigo is very fast, in this Universe, Flash is the fastest man alive. He can circle the earth in seconds, and Ichigo, even at his fastest, can't quite do that. The main difference is that Ichigo's speed comes in bursts, like pseudo-teleporting, while the Flash's speed is constant.  
><strong>

**granasaber master: Thanks. Yes, the reactions have been eagerly anticipated. Ichigo can use Bala, he just hasn't up to this point. As for special... maybe. Hadn't thought about it.  
><strong>

**Deadzepplin: He'd be a pretty awesome lantern.  
><strong>

**Shen an Calhar: Thanks. I think I've kept GL pretty in character concerning rookies... but remember both he and Ichigo have been heroes for a while now.  
><strong>

**Lightningblade49: That's the mask he's using. His body is whatever type of outfit to match the sword; usually Bankai.  
><strong>

**MP Enchanter: Thanks.  
><strong>

**drake202: **Thanks. Yes, the reactions have been eagerly anticipated. **While he looks older then he is thanks to time distorting when his reality collapsed, he still ages like a normal person. However, odds are good that the reitsu in his body will extend his life longer then a normal human.  
><strong>

**hannz12: Thanks.  
><strong>

**WarmasterSamiel: Yeah, Ichigo's mucking about the JL timeline, the effect, only time will tell...  
><strong>

**Shin'en of the Chaotic Destiny: Thanks!  
><strong>

**Masked Bard of Chaos: Yeah, I've seen stories where the protagonist travels to a new universe, and is the greatest superhero ever ever ever, beating everyone else. But come on, that's not realistic. Here, the trip from one reality to this, brought Ichigo to their level (Up or down? You decide)  
><strong>

**ryotanimoto16: Makes me wonder what the insurance rates of Gotham and Metropolis look like.  
><strong>

**asredwer: Thanks. I'm sure I'll find some use for it; and I as of this chapter, he goes back to being J'ohn (No matter how much spellcheck hates that).  
><strong>

**Delphine Pryde: You don't like cliffhangers? Oh... Um...  
><strong>

**thsunami: Well, I didn't want him to be the best at everything, instead choosing to make him more well rounded. In this story, WW and SM are both Stronger then Ichigo.  
><strong>

**Infinite Freedom: You'll find out this chapter!  
><strong>

**Baron von Nobody: Well we see their thoughts on Ichigo this chapter, let's see how much you got right. As for those who will come from Ichigo's world... oh I've got something in mind; but we won't be seeing it in action for a while.  
><strong>

**shadow juubi overlord: Thanks  
><strong>

**Warrior Chicken: Alright, and yes, yes it will.  
><strong>

**alchemists19: Thanks  
><strong>

**mistyfoxmaid: Thanks  
><strong>

**FanFictionFan345: Thanks. And yeah, I suppose he probably does...  
><strong>

**Fangking2: Rushed? Well, if you say so. And I thought I was keeping Ichigo in character? What about him did you feel was OOC?  
><strong>

**Coreldecortavar: Thanks. And I'm glad you like it.  
><strong>

**kippusan: It's alright, and I completely understand. Ichigo isn't using that much strength, because causing such wide spread destruction with every move would be counter productive. He can't just go destroying miles of streets everytime he swings his sword. He's in a new universe now, and he's got to play by its rules.  
><strong>

**Lunatic Pandora1: Oh, you're quit right about that.  
><strong>

**Windlich: You'll find out this chapter. Batman has issues with everyone, it seems. It's a slight distortion. That would be funny, but he's seen Yoruichi naked, and has hung out with Rangiku, compared to them, Power Girl is tame.  
><strong>

**dragonheart967: While Ichigo is powerful enough to do some of that, he is holding back a little. Because he's in a new world, he can't just go blowing up buildings and setting the sky on fire every time he fights. A little restraint is required. And yes, he can call on the mask without using that much power.  
><strong>

**Mark of Cain: Thanks. And yeah, that's sorta what Ichigo's doing. I should probably try to make Ichigo think or comment on that that, so it becomes clear in the future.  
><strong>

**animekingmike: Thank you. Yes, at the bottom I've got a scale, so that we can decide exactly how strong these guys are.  
><strong>

**Crossovernaru: Sorry about long authors notes, but I've got a lot to say. And Ichigo will have his own villains, later on.  
><strong>

**mossfire: Alright, here you go. As for comedy, I'll try where I can. Ichigo will most likely reveal his identity during the Thanagarian invasion with everyone else.  
><strong>

**ZxxvVBnmjjk: Ok  
><strong>

**xXxOtAkU-444xXx: Glad to hear it.  
><strong>

**Acedia's Apathetic Simplicity: While most of the time it will be Ichigo's POV, we will occasionally switch to other characters to get their perspective, starting with this chapter right here.  
><strong>

**devil549: Not necessarily weaker, but he is restraining himself. If he used full power every time he fought a low-level crook, he'd destroy the city.  
><strong>

**ChasoKnight: Thanks  
><strong>

**ditin2006: Thanks, but Ichigo's identity is secret, and will likely stay that way until the Thanagarian Invasion  
><strong>

**Random Fanfic Fan: Thanks. It's tough translating anime powers to comic powers, as the scales are amazingly different. You've never seen the Justice League? You should check it out, it's a great series. And in return for your suggestion, I suggest 'Baccano!', an anime about immortal gangsters. It's not told in a linear fashion, taking place from the perspective of different characters, but it's very good all the same. And I hope you did well on your exams.  
><strong>

**anon 1: Thanks  
><strong>

**darkhollow93: Thanks  
><strong>

**tsukiyomi83: Thanks  
><strong>

**person: It will be a sight to see  
><strong>

**Viet Devil: Ok  
><strong>

**anon 2: Ok  
><strong>

**Zanthraxone: Thanks. How? Badassedly! I'm still debating on using the first hollow form somewhere down the line.  
><strong>

**Matthew Blackheart: Thanks  
><strong>

**ParadiseRegained: Thanks  
><strong>

**Mari-o K: Alright.  
><strong>

**Cloudmage23: In this story, I'll usually write as though WW and SM are physically stronger then Ichigo in most circumstances.  
><strong>

**YoukoTaichou: I'll keep that in mind. And thanks.  
><strong>

**anon 3: Ok  
><strong>

**Ok folks, with this chapter, you get the long awaited first impressions of the League to Ichigo. The beginning of the Chapter is Action heavy, while the later half slows down for the thoughts and opinions of each memeber (save one, who I'll get to later). I want everyone to know that I did my best to keep everyone in character, and behave (or at least think) towards/about Ichigo in the manner that I believe they would.  
><strong>

**Guardian of the League: Chapter 3: Ichigo and the Martian Invasion Part 2**

**Earlier: The Island of Themyscira **

Somewhere in the ocean, hidden from the eyes of mortal men everywhere, there was an island. If one were to see the island, they would think they had stepped backwards in time. All the architecture was Greek in origin yet, despite looking like something you'd find in a history book, looked positively new! This was the island of Themyscira, home of the amazons…

The night was quiet, with only the sounds of lapping waves on the shore nearby breaking the peace of the evening. Most of the islands inhabitants had gone to bed for the night, save the stray guard. This meant that the hooded figure moving towards one of the more sacred temples on the island was relatively unimpeded.

Approaching the statue of Athena, goddess of wisdom, the figure ascended the steps, recalling the conversation she'd had with the queen earlier that same day. The figure dropped the hood, revealing raven black hair, and the bluest of blue eyes.

"Mother… forgive me." she said softly. Diana knew that her mother, the queen of the amazons, would never approve of what she was about to do. But Diana was sure she could feel… something nefarious encroaching on the world. And she was sure it wasn't just the world of men that would be at stake, but possibly her own as well. And even if her home, protected by the gods as it was, managed to stay safe from whatever evil was coming, Diana knew she would never be able to live with herself if she didn't make an effort to help the people on the outside.

So, her confidence assured, Diana dropped her robe, exposing herself to the goddess Athena as she looked upon the alter that sat at the base of the warrior goddess's feet. There, a strangely colored suit of armor sat, just waiting for someone to come and use it.

_-The Guardian-_

**Back With Ichigo And Company, Current Time: **

"Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo needed no further prompting as he slung a massive scythe of energy downwards towards the white shape-shifters. The creepy amoeba looking invaders barely had time to look up before they'd been slammed into the dirt.

The heroes quickly broke apart, the dark figure Ichigo recognized as Batman taking the green… human(?) with him.

But there was no time for idling about, as the white creatures had gotten a second wind, and were firing upwards at him, forcing him to flash step closer to the ground to avoid a hit.

He saw Batman reach for something in his belt, then say something to the green man. He tossed what Ichigo realized was a blinking batarang, which exploded with tremendous force.

But one of the monsters was sneaking up behind him, gun aimed. Ichigo flew as fast as he could, but watched, rather stunned, as the green man flew **through** Batman to take the hit. The blast knocked him back, but he seemed otherwise unharmed. Ichigo flashed right in front of the white monster and sliced it from the left shoulder to the right him, before sucker-punching it in the face.

"Are you alright J'ohn?" Batman asked, receiving only a groan as an answer. Ah, so that was J'ohn, the martian from Ichigo's dream. Odd, he looked different… was he supposed to be a shapeshifter too? Ichigo and Batman suddenly found themselves covered in a shadow. Turning from the injured alien, the soul reaper saw Superman holding a freaking tank over his head! Ichigo had heard he was strong, but geez!

"Get him to safety! I'll cover you!" he said, using the tank as a shield from the alien gunfire. Batman just nodded, and dragged J'ohn towards a bat themed plane.

Superman gave Ichigo a look like he expected him to follow Batman, but Ichigo just shook his head. There was no way he was running from this fight. Powering up a cero between his horns. Ichigo turned from Superman and unleashed a blast that burned through the ground up to a foot, and vaporized a half dozen monsters. Superman's eyes widened. Obviously, he had not been expecting that.

Meanwhile, Batman had loaded J'ohn into the Batplane, and was preparing for takeoff. He didn't notice as the martian's eyes pulsed with power, and a mental probe went out…

Superman hurled the tank like it was a toy, smashing several jeeps and other military equipment in a firry explosion. Ichigo had to admit, it was a rather impressive display of physical strength. While he was no slouch in the strength department, his strength came from reishi, and wasn't as natural as Superman's. He supposed that if he channeled his spirit energy into his muscles, he could probably perform similar feats, much like when he'd battled Azien (the first time, when he then lost his powers afterwards), but channeling that much spirit energy into his muscles would affect his other powers. Ichigo shook his head as he heard Batman's plane engines power up; right now he had a plane to guard.

Leaping into the air Ichigo sent one last ebony swath of energy crashing into the ground, scattering troops and blowing apart tanks, before following after Batman's jet.

However, it looked like the aliens wouldn't be giving up just yet. As from around the corner came a fleet of odd looking ships. Ichigo might have thought they looked comical, had they not started firing energy beams that were burning holes in the surrounding mountains.

_-The Guardian-_

Batman ducked and weaved and barrel rolled his way through the mountains and ravines, desperately trying not to get shot down. Behind him, Superman and the Reaper were doing what they could; Superman with his heat visions, and the Reaper with his own energy blast.

The Reaper; now there had been a surprise. Batman honestly couldn't think of a reason for him to be here. Batman had kept a close eye on him, like he did with all other supers, ever since he'd first appeared in New York. Batman's feelings on the skeletal super were mixed. On the one hand, he approved of the fear the Reaper put into the superstitious and cowardly criminal scum of the big city. On the other, the Reaper had shown himself to be very brutal, almost more so then he was when dealing with the Gotham scum, almost always leaving someone in critical condition. And while he may not use a gun, a sword was a difficult weapon to use on another human being without mortally wounding them… unless you knew what you were doing. From what he'd seen, the Reaper was certainly a sword master.

That was surprising to Bruce, given what he'd judged about the Reaper's secret identity. He hadn't had time to follow the Reaper around like he did with Clark, so he didn't know his exact name (actually with the crime rates in Gotham picking up lately, he didn't know the secret identities behind a lot of supers, something he would have to work on). He had judged that whoever was on the other side of the Reaper mask was likely young, judging by the body build. He was most likely in his twenties, which made his sword mastery all the more curious. Bruce had trained with some of the greatest experts in the world, including sword prodigies and masters. He would have known about someone that young mastering such a skill. The fact that he had just appeared out of nowhere, was suspicious to him (then again, he found everything suspicious). He'd definitely need to keep an eye on this Reaper…

_-The Guardian-_

Superman flew right through several of the ships, causing them to explode in a hail of shrapnel that collided and damaged several other ships. Superman was once again glad these things were inhuman monsters. He'd always done his best never to kill, even if it made his job harder. But with monsters, things became a little more black and white, and he could cut loose a little more.

That didn't make him unbeatable though, as one ship managed to get the drop on him, and shot him in the back, sending him crashing into the mountains. Pushing him self up, Clark looked up, ready to use his heat vision to burn the alien crafts out of the sky.

He didn't need to bother though, as a black robed figure appeared before him. It was the Guardian, who lowered his head and leveled his horns as the oncoming aliens. A ball of red light appeared between the horns on his mask, and fired at one of the craft. The Guardian summoned several more of the red balls in rapid succession, causing the rest of the fleet to veer away from them to avoid being hit.

Turning, the Guardian offered him a hand, which Superman gladly took. Superman nodded in thanks, and the Guardian returned it. No verbal thanks were necessary. After all, they were both supers trying to do their best to protect people, and protecting one another in times like these was par the course. Even if he didn't entirely agree with some of the Guardian's more violent methods, he wasn't about to judge. After all, he was friends with Batman.

Oh. Speaking of Batman…

The Caped Crusader had managed to lead his perusers through a tight hole, causing some who couldn't make the tight space to explode, but one of the few that had made it got off a well placed shot that blew one of the batplanes wings off.

Ichigo's eyes widened behind his mask. He flashed forward, creating a small boom in his wake as he displaced a large quantity of air in an attempt to reach the crashing plane. But even if he reached it, he knew he wouldn't be able to stop it. Despite being slightly stronger then normal due to his massive amount of energy, there was no way he could halt a plane in mid air, at least not without most likely killing the passengers! The only other option would be to try and create a cushion of air with a Getsuga Tenshou, but that might prove counter productive if the backlash tore the plane apart instead of saving it! Maybe he could cut off the top and carry the two passengers out? No, that didn't seem likely either!

However, Ichigo's fear were for nothing. Just as he was within arm's reach of the plane, he felt something on the edge of his senses. That something quickly surrounded the plane in a large bubble of green energy, holding it in place and stopping its decent.

Looking up, Ichigo saw that high above them was a black man wearing a green spandex suit with an odd emblem on it, and wearing a green ring. The Green Lantern! Of course! The odd feeling he was getting was the ring's energy, which gave off a different 'feel' then normal spiritual energy. And because the Lantern was using it to fly, he had difficulty sensing him; though now that he knew what he was looking for, it would be easier in the future.

Come to think of it, he realized that in all the excitement, several new spiritual pressures were moving towards this location!

Shots rang out as two more ships rounded the corner, snapping Ichigo out of his trance. He turned in mid air, prepared for battle, but saw from the corner of his eye a new combatant enter the fray. It was a woman, though her spirit seemed to indicate she might not be human. She must be an alien then, like Superman or J'ohn J'onzz

She was wearing a yellow tank top that left her arms bare. She wore a black belt with a white square in the center, and directly below that were dark green pants with red at the thighs, crotch and buttocks. She was wearing a stylized bird mask, which went well with the most interesting thing about her: The large pair of almost angel like wings that sprouted from her back. Judging by the way they moved and twitched in the air, Ichigo was pretty sure they were real.

In her hands she held a large battle mace, with electricity sparking and encircling the top. The woman gave a battle cry before plunging it into the ships with enough force to nearly split it in half. She attacked the next ship in line, then another and another. The fierceness she showed in battle made Ichigo wonder if this woman somehow knew Kenpachi… he shuddered at the idea of the combat-loving captain finding his way to this world, he knew that Zaraki would have **way **to much fun here.

Judging by all of this, he'd guess that this was probably 'Hawk Girl" though why an adult would choose such a title he didn't know. Man, it looked like nearly every major hero was here…

Damn! He was getting distracted again. He really needed to stop monologuing internally. Unlike his world, the baddies didn't just hang around waiting while you thought to yourself for a couple of minutes…

That said, he floated up beside the green man, who was flying beside the Green Lantern and Superman. GL turned to Superman "Sorry I'm late" he said, his voice deep and assertive "There was an uprising near Rigel 9." he explained, as Hawk-Girl joined them. Both she and the Lantern cast a glance at him, likely taking in the large devilish looking mask he wore.

But after that brief moment, the five of them charged the remains of the fleet. One of them was immediately melted by Superman's heat vision, who then grabbed another and tossed it into the cliff side. Ichigo fired a bala similar to the ones he'd used to protect Superman (another move compliments of his Inner Hollow) to knock one of the ships into the path of Green Lantern's energy beam, which cut in half like a chainsaw through paper.

J'ohn had a more interesting trick though. He flew between two of the ships, making them fire on him as soon as he was in their sights. But at the last second, he became translucent, and the deadly rays passed right through him. This had the rather comical effect of the two ships shooting each other down. And Ichigo thought that only worked in cartoons…

But their luck couldn't last forever. One of the ships managed to get lock on Hawk-Girl, and fired a blast right at her. She managed to swerve out of the way, but the resulting explosion and shrapnel knocked her out of the sky. She landed with a heavy thud on one of the ledges that cropped from the cliffside.

That was when another face made the scene (Ichigo wondered if he wasn't the only one the J'ohn had called, and if so, just how many were coming?) standing protectively over Hawk-Girl.

She was very tall, with midnight black hair that fell to mid black and slightly tanned skin. She was obviously strong, as her muscle tone was clearly visible. She had the most… interesting costume of everyone he'd seen today. She had on a red bustier with a gold eagle design on the chest with its wings spread. From there it went down to cover her waste and privates, the lower half being blue and covered in stars. The upper red half and the lower blue half were separated by a gold W shaped belt. Her legs and arms were bare, her feet being covered by red boots, and large silver bracelets around her wrists. Finally the outfit was topped off with a gold tiara with a red star in the center, and a gold lasso at her hip.

She stood tall and unafraid as the alien ship that bore down on her opened fire. Ichigo was tempted to jump in, but was curious what she planned to do. Then he watched as, with lightning fast reflexes, the woman batted the energy blasts away with her bracelets; several of which rebounded back on the ship, blowing holes in it and causing it to crash. Whoa.

However, the ship seemed to want to take some measure of revenge by crashing into the two. Quick as a flash Ichigo unleashed a powerful Getsuga Tenshou on it, while from the corner of his eye a green energy bolt surrounded the pair in a protective forcefield. Ichigo's energy blast destroyed the ship completely, while the forcefield protected its occupants from any shrapnel damage.

With the last of the ships destroyed, it looked like it was time to regroup and discuss a plan of attack. Ichigo saw the rest of the heros flying back to where Batman had been left stranded and followed. As they did, Ichigo heard a sound beneath him. Looking down, he saw a red blur moving rapidly across the ground holding onto the lost wing of Batman's plane. If Ichigo recalled, the only superhero that moved that fast on the ground with that color scheme would have to be the Flash. Looks like the fastest man alive was last to the party…

_-The Guardian-_

"Whoa… where have you been all my life" Flash asked jokingly as he examined the hottest woman he'd ever seen.

The woman blinked "Themyscira" she said, clearly not realizing she was being hit on. Flash blinked in confusion at the odd answer.

"The home of the amazons." Hawk-Girl explained as she landed with the Green Lantern and J'ohn next to Superman and Batman. "I always thought it was a myth."

The other woman shook her head "I assure you, it's as real as the ground on which we stand." she looked at all of them, giving a friendly smile "I am Diana, princess of the amazons."

"Pinch me, I must be dreaming." Flash said, clearly enamored by the warrior princess. His words only got him an elbow from Superman instead.

Diana explained that, while her home was magically protected from harm by 'the gods', she still felt some responsibility to use her powers to help the rest of mankind. To Ichigo, it kinda sounded like the Soul Society: A place that was mystically protected from outside harm by powerful forces. However, the Soul Society rarely got involved to help with the problems of the rest of the world unless it proved to be a threat to them. Maybe he was just bitter from the years he'd spent at war, but Ichigo got the feeling that if Azien hadn't been a direct threat to Gotei 13, they weren't likely to have lifted a finger to stop him. And why should they? Walled up in their fancy city with their 'unstoppable captains' they were no doubt safe from most things. It was only because Azien had become so powerful that they felt the need to take action, not to mention having tricked them and making them look like fools…

Superman was clearly grateful for the extra help "It's a lucky thing you showed up when you did."

J'ohn shook his head "No. Not luck. I telepathically summoned them here." he said, gesturing to Ichigo, Hawk-Girl, the Green Lantern, Flash, and Diana. Ah, telepathy. That would explain how they all managed to get here.

Flash stepped forward, for once not making a funny comment "Look, I'm usually pretty quick on the uptake here, but could someone please tell me what the heck is going on?" he asked, a tone in his voice that clearly mirrored what most of them were thinking. As one, they turned to J'ohn, waiting for an explanation.

J'onzz, as quickly and concisely as he could explained who he was, where he'd come from, and the nature of the enemy they now faced. While he did, Superman took the time to use his heat vision to fix Batman's plane wing back on, making it flight capable again for the time being.

"This is just too weird." Flash muttered, having rarely, if ever, dealt with alien invaders in his career.

"I've seen stranger things." Green Lantern said with a shrug, his brow crinkled in thought as he took everything in.

J'onzz had a far off look in his eye, as he recalled events from long ago "We first encountered them a thousand of your earth years ago…" he said, surprising his audience with the knowledge that the martian was that old.

He explained it all to them: How their once peaceful society had been invaded by the monsters that now attacked earth. How for years and years war had ravaged the land and reduced the paradise that the martians called home to a ruined wasteland. He told them how the invaders were psychic parasites that fed off the martian's suffering, and even stole their shapeshifting ability. Finally, he told them how, in a last ditch effort, a small group of martians, lead by himself, released a paralyzing nerve gas that rendered the 'white martians' frozen, but at the cost of every 'man' but J'onzz's life.

Since that day, he'd watched over the white martians, ready to spend the rest of eternity guarding over them, and making sure their threat would never be unleashed again. Sadly, during something called a hibernation cycle, the humans had come, and opened the vault that contained the alien menace, setting them free. With the planet's inhabitants all dead, the invaders decided to move on to earth.

But while J'onzz talked, the others were subtly sizing each other up. Or rather, the others were sizing up the two newest Supers: Diana and Ichigo. Even though Ichigo had been around longer, he'd never teamed up with any one else here, and Diana had only made herself known a few minutes ago.

Flash had to admit, as far as looks went, the Guardian could give Bats a run for his money on scary. What with the horns, and the creepy mask, and the dark flowing black cloak… Flash was just glad he was a good guy. And Flash knew he was a good guy; no matter what some people might say. He knew that sometimes you had to get a little rough with the badguy when lives were on the line. He'd never killed anyone, as far as the Flash knew, and he always did his best to save the day. So yeah, he was just another kinda (or maybe really) scary superhero. And then their was the sword. What kind of super villains was the Guardian fighting that made a sword a practical weapon? Flash smiled internally as he imagined fighting off Captain Boomerang with a sword… actually, that sounded kinda badass! And that Hawk chick had a mace, so clearly there must be something to this medieval weapons thing. Hmm… what kind of weapon would he use?

Hawk-Girl sized up the two new heros while the martian exposited backstory. Despite the legends saying that amazons were warriors, the look of the princess was one who had never seen real, life threatening combat. She could hold her own, no doubt, but she wondered how far that training would take her? She doubted alien invaders ever crossed the mind of the greek style teachers. She'd have to forestall judgment until she knew the woman better.

The other one though… the Reaper, or the Guardian, depending on who you asked. He had the look of someone who'd seen combat. His stance said it all, the rigid tension, the way he hadn't let go of his sword, clearly he'd seen some things. That said, like the amazon, she'd have to wait until he really let loose before she judged. He'd certainly held his own against those ships. Physically, he was skinny, though slightly muscled. Clearly he was someone who focused more on speed the physical strength (other evidence was the Katana style sword he used), though she had the feeling he could back up his words with action if he wanted to.

Diana had to admit, this was a rather colorful group she'd found herself in. When she'd felt the mental summons, she had no idea what she was waking into. That said, she felt she'd held herself rather well against the strange ships. And now that she was part of this band of warriors, she took the time to examine each of them, curious what type of heros man's world had made.

The man in blue was clearly formidable, as she had seen him toss one of the ships into a cliff with his bare hands. The girl with wings, before she'd been shot down, also seemed to possess some degree of physical strength, as she'd been able to knock down ships with a swing of her mace. The man in green clearly held himself like a soldier, and appeared to be the most disciplined of the group. His ring seemed to be the source of his power, and Diana wondered where he had gotten such a thing. Had he earned it, or found it? To her, such a thing would make a world of difference.

Either way, he held himself completely differently then the man in red, who seemed so relaxed despite everything that seemed to be happening. Diana would almost have dismissed him out of hand, had she not seen him running across the battle field. And by Hera had he moved! She almost believed he had been blessed by Hermes himself to move at such speed!

She had not seen the man in black with a scowl on his face fight, though the way the others around him stood and addressed him, clearly he was some type of fighter. The muscles that rippled across his body would also indicate this. She thought that, perhaps, with the belt and the plane behind him… that perhaps he possessed no superpowers of his own. If that was the case, then she was quite impressed that he would still fight such creatures without them. Truly he must possess a warriors spirt… if her assumptions were true.

The last warrior… cloaked in black and with a garish demon's mask hiding his face. Diana found his presence… off putting. Clearly he was a strong warrior, as one swing of his blade was enough to destroy one of the ships with a scythe of energy that looked like a bloody piece of the night sky. But the aura he put off… the closest comparison she could make was when her mother had shown her the Gates of Tartarus, which reeked of Hades' Magic. Death Magic. Whoever this warrior was (and she had heard no one address him by name yet), if he had access to death magic…

Green Lantern did not like rookies. All they did was get in the way and make mistakes that could cost them the mission or peoples lives. As far as he was concerned, they should stick to small crimes, and leave the big problems to the big hitters. He didn't know who this 'princess' was, but wasn't entirely certain he wanted someone who'd never set foot off her island involved in this. As for the Reaper… he knew that the kid had been around for a while, though he'd never had reason to interact with him. As such, he couldn't really say much for the kid's character. He had no way of knowing if he was the type to fly off the handle, or as stoic as Batman (though that seemed unlikely). That said, the use of destructive energy blasts and a sword of all things… Those were weapons and powers that needed precise control to avoid lethally hurting anyone; as a Ring barer, he knew. The fact that he'd never heard any reports of the Reaper killing a person said a lot about his control. All together, he figured it be alright to trust the kid, at least until he knew him better, and was able to make a full judgement.

J'onzz ended his story by telling them how he had come to earth to warn the people, but ended up imprisoned instead. During his imprisonment, the white martians had infiltrated the planet using their ill-gotten shapeshifting powers and disabled the deep space monitoring network, so no one on earth would know they were coming…

"We've got to stop them, before it's too late!" Green Lantern said, his eyes glowing with power as he jerked his mind back to the present.

J'onzz sighed sadly "It may already be too late." he said seriously. The rest of the heros exchanged looks…

But before they could say anything, an explosion rocked the area, and from the distance, a plume of dark smoke was rising, blotting out the sky.

"What was **that**?" Wonder Woman asked, alarmed.

J'onzz looked down "It has begun" he warned ominously.

Then, from the still growing cloud, bolts of lightning began to burst towards the sky, like an upside-down raincloud.

Hawk Girl turned to the martian "What exactly are they doing?" she asked, figuring if anyone knew it would be him.

"The invaders are nocturnal." he said simply "They want to blot out the sun so they can live in perpetual darkness."

Flash smirked, looking at Batman "Friends of yours?" he asked. Ichigo rolled his eyes, this guy would have gotten along well with Kisuke.

Batman just gave the speedster one of patented 'Bat-Glares' "It's no joke." And Batman was almost as uptight as Soi Fon.

Flash just shrugged, before approaching J'ohn "What's the problem? Can't you just whip up another batch of that alien nerve gas?" he asked. The others heros wanted to smack themselves. Why hadn't they thought of that?

But J'ohn just shook his head "The gas was made from a rare martian plant. I brought a sample with me, but it was destroyed when I was captured." Oh. Well there went that plan. Ichigo just shrugged internally, when had it ever been that easy?

Flash asked the next obvious question "What's Plan B?"

Diana stepped forward "We'll just have to take out those factories."

GL just shot a glare at the amazonian "Lady, this is no job for amateurs." There was no way he was letting a rookie come along on a mission this important.

Diana looked furious "We amazons are warriors born!" how dare this MAN question her right to battle! "Want to test me." she took a step towards him, taking slight pleasure that she was taller then him.

Superman looked like was going to break up the fight, but Ichigo beat him too it. This was too much like watching the captains squabble for his liking.

With a thought, he unleashed his spiritual pressure. He used a drop of that power to scare petty criminals into submission, but these two would clearly warrant a little more. Everyone stopped as the temperature seemed to drop thirty degrees, and the very air thrummed with power.

"Would you two quite acting like idiots!" Ichigo said. As soon as he spoke those words, he cut off the flow of reitsu to the air. No need to make anyone go into a panic.

In the silence that followed, Hawk Girl's grip on her mace slacked a little, and Batman slipped the batarangs he'd been holding back into his pocket. Superman raised an eyebrow, but didn't make any other motion.

The two turned on him, each looking slightly angry and annoyed. They clearly didn't like having their dispute interrupted.

"How dare you insult me!" Diana practically shouted. Were no men on this planet decent. Okay… maybe she was acting rash but still…

"You'd better watch your tone kid…" Green Lantern warned, not liking that he was being talked down to by some skull wearing punk. So maybe he was acting rash, but this kid had no right to but in!

Ichigo gripped his sword tightly "We don't have time for this. Those cities are full of people who need our help!" he said, looking at Diana "And we're going to need all the help we can get." he cast a look at GL. "So stop acting like a couple of kids before I have to kick your asses!" he said, having a flashback to when he dealt with thugs around his school. They weren't quite the same, but for goodness sake, these people were suppose to be super heros.

Diana and GL shot each other a look _'Yeah, you'd try'_ was the thought that passed through their minds at Ichigo's threat, but outwardly they just nodded and turned back to the group. "Sorry, your highness" GL said crossing his arms, just getting a glare in response.

GL figured now might be a time to talk about strategy "Tactically, we'll have multiple objectives, so we'll need to split into teams."

With a blur, Flash was by Diana's side "Dibs on the amazon." he said with a goofy grin. Diana just looked confused. She looked at the Flash and asked:

"What does 'dibs' mean?"

Ichigo just chuckled inwardly at Flash's awkward expression. Now that the tension was slowly ebbing away, they could start acting like a team. He turned his head slightly to the billowing cloud of darkness.

And once they started acting as a team, they could start kicking some ass…

**End Chapter 3**

_-The Guardian-_

**And so ends Chapter 3. Not necessarily as action heavy as the last, but necessary to the overall plot. I hope everyone liked the first meeting of Ichigo and the rest of the League. I tried to make it realistic to the individual characters, and made them behave how I thought they would. For instance, some people thought Superman wouldn't like Ichigo. Why? He hangs out with Batman for goodness sakes! Another was Green Lantern, who in the show acts like a bit of a jerk to Diana because she's a rookie. The reason he wasn't acting that way to Ichigo? Well, remember that in this story, Ichigo has been around for a little more then half a year now, so he's not really new to the DC Universe, he's just never had a team up. So GL has no real reason to call Ichigo a rookie. Diana though, has only been off her island for a couple of hours now, so she completely qualifies as a rookie in GL's eyes. But if you're still worried, individual feelings will be fleshed out over the story, as the characters grow and interact together. Be cool, this is only their first encounter.  
><strong>

**Also, I have a ****MAJOR QUESTION**** I wanted to ask you, and it's the reason the chapter ends here. If you've seen the show, you know the groups break off to assault different targets. Which team do you think Ichigo should be on?  
><strong>

**Superman and Hawkgirl's?  
><strong>

**Flash and Green Lantern's? or  
><strong>

**J'ohn, Diana, and Batman's?  
><strong>

**Please leave a vote in your review.  
><strong>

**Now, starting with this chapter, I want to start something new: I'm going to use a scale that I think we can all agree on for the characters of the Bleach and Justice League. I got this scale, oddly enough from Marvel. A couple of years ago they printed out guides that had the powers and backstory of all their characters, from major to minor, and a scale at the bottom to rate different aspects. This is the scale I will be using...  
><strong>

_**Intelligence: Ability to think and process information**_

1) Slow/Impaired  
>2) Normal<br>3) Learned  
>4) Gifted<br>5) Genius  
>6) Super-Genius<br>7) Omniscient

_**Strength: Ability to lift weight**_

1) Weak: Cannot lift own body weight  
>2) Normal: able to lift own body weight<br>3) Peak Human: able to lift twice own body weight  
>4) Superhuman 1: 800 lbs - 25 ton range<br>5) Superhuman 2: 25 - 75 ton range  
>6) Superhuman 3: 75 - 100 ton range<br>7) Incalculable: In excess of 100 tons

**_Speed: Ability to move over land by running or flight_**

1) Below Normal  
>2) Normal<br>3) Superhuman: peak range: 700 MPH  
>4) Speed of Sound: Mach-1<br>5) Supersonic: Mach-2 through Orbital Velocity  
>6) Speed of light: 186,000 miles per second<br>7) Warp speed: transcending light speed

_**Durability: Ability to resist or recover from bodily injury**_

1) Weak  
>2) Normal<br>3) Enhanced  
>4) Regenerative<br>5) Bulletproof  
>6) Superhuman<br>7) Virtually Indestructible

_**Energy Projection: Ability to discharge energy**_

1) None  
>2) Ability to discharge energy on contact<br>3) Short range, short duration, single energy type  
>4) Medium range, duration, single energy type<br>5) Long range, duration, single energy type  
>6) Able to discharge multiple forms of energy<br>7) Virtually unlimited command of all forms of energy

_**Fighting Ability: Proficiency in hand-to-hand combat**_

1) Poor  
>2) Normal<br>3) Some training  
>4) Experienced fighter<br>5) Master of a single form of combat  
>6) Master of several forms of combat<br>7) Master of all forms of combat

**Simple, right? I thought so. Now, at the end of each chapter, I'll toss out a couple of characters from Bleach, JL, or both. And I want YOU to rate them, using the system above, in your review. You must rate them in each category, or I'm ignoring it. When the next chapter comes out, I'll go over all the ratings, and make a finalized display to show you what you can expect from that character in this story. Why am I doing this? Because it seems every other person wanted to tell me how much better/stronger/faster/more durable Ichigo was then everyone else. Well, I've already got Ichigo's stats in my head for now, though he may improve later, be it through training or what have you. This is for everyone else. **

**This week:**

From Bleach: Orihime, Chad, Uryu, Renji, Rukia

From JL: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman**  
><strong>

**Please use ONLY these characters if you're going to rate. I don't want to hear about Azien, or Kenpachi, or the Vizards. It's not their turn.  
><strong>

****So there you go. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, please feel free to tell me in a review. If I didn't well I'm sorry to here that, and you're welcome to offer some helpful critics in a review, but as always no Flames, as those are no good for anyone. Also, because I'm not above shameless plugging; why don't you go read something else I've written like: ****_I Don't Know How to Deal with Youkai Academy!, The Last Laugh of Konoha, The Lantern Chronicles, Naruto: Card Captor, Deadliest Warrior, Season X, Deadliest Character, The Many Faces of Naruto Uzumaki, or my very first story with only two chapters remaining until it's completion: Naruto In Hell!****  
><strong>**_

****Join us Next Time For the exciting conclusion of the Secret Origins Episodes, and the formation of the Justice League in:****

****Ichigo and the Martian Invasion Part 3!****

********or...  
><strong>******

********Ichigo and the Justice League Kick Martian Ass!  
><strong>******


	5. Ichigo and the Martian Invasion Part 3

**Well damn...nearly a whole year without an update. I'm truly sorry everyone, I never wanted to be one of those authors who only updates once or twice a year. But real life took over, especially college (I had two science classes going on at the same time), and inspiration just sort of left for a while. But I managed to finish, and now that I'm on a many month long break, I hope to be more productive in this area. You think this wait was bad, _I Don't Know How to Deal With Youkai Academy_ has gone a year without an update, and I'm barely over the halfway mark with that next chapter. Hopefully that will change real soon.  
><strong>

**To Everyone who has stayed on after all this time... you are my new favorite people. To everyone who reviewed, thank you. You asked questions I myself didn't think of at the time (like the Hell Arch...not really sure that will ever be mentioned to be honest). Some of you asked great questions that I can't really answer right now without giving a TON away. Those who used the scale to award value to the characters I asked, thank you, that will come in handy...down the line. For those that found it subjective, don't shoot the messenger, that's the old Marvel Comics guide scale that they printed off a couple years back. Although I would point out that bulletproof coming after regenerative makes some sense: Regenerative lets you heal from a gunshot wound. Bulletproof means that you weren't wounded by the bullet in the first place. Make sense?  
><strong>

**Either way, I doubt you came to hear me prattle on. Let's meet up again at the end of the chapter shall we? I'm nervous because it's been so long, I hope that what's to come meets your expectations! It's time to wrap up the Secret Origins Arc, with this: **

**Guardian of the League: Chapter 4: Ichigo and the Martian Invasion Part 3  
><strong>

**Or**

**Ichigo and the Justice League Kick Martian Ass!**

Ichigo sped over the ground with ease as he kept pace with his two companions. They were headed where J'ohn had said there would be a large congregation of the White Martians. They would be guarding a device that would allow them to block the rays of the sun, allowing them to conquer and ravage without fear of its rays.

Superman and Hawkgirl had gone off to take care of one, while Batman, J'onzz, and Diana went after another. Flash was disappointed he wouldn't get to go with the amazonian, but it was decided it would be better for the mission if he wasn't so distracted. As such, he had to go with Ichigo and Lantern.

As they had flown towards their destination, Ichigo let Zangetsu dissipate into energy, his Bankai Form bleeding back into his normal Shikai robes. Noticing Lantern's raised eyebrow he gave a grunt and a shrug "Conserving energy" he said shortly, not feeling the need to elaborate, nor wanting to explain the rules of exactly how his power worked.

"So what's up with the weird devil mask?" Flash asked, apparently not able to stand the silence. "A bit much isn't it?"

Ichigo snorted "At least I'm not wearing bright red spandex." he replied. He had no control over how the mask looked when it manifested, it just appeared that way. So what were these guys' excuse?

Flash just gave a grin "Hey, chicks dig the suit. And the guns." he said proudly flexing his arm. Ichigo rolled his eyes. Was this guy for real?

"Yeah, I could tell by how you handled the greek girl." he said giving the Flash a deadpan stare.

Flash gave an indignant yelp "HEY! Give it time! She just hasn't been off her island long enough to know true awesomeness when she sees it."

"If you do two would pipe down for a second you'd notice we're nearly there." Lantern said, his face still looking like it was carved from stone. Geez, Ichigo was starting to find this guy's attitude very reminiscent of a certain Captain he once knew.

However, he was right; he could see where the white aliens had gathered up ahead. He and the Flash followed Lantern to a cliffside where they could observe without being seen.

Patrolling the parameter were three of the walkers Ichigo had encountered in New York. Milling about were foot-soldiers, each armed with a gun that wouldn't look out of place in a cheesy movie. And in the center of it, was a massive misshapen structure, where J'ohn had told them they would find a machine that allowed these creatures to manipulate the sky and blot out the sun. By shutting it down, they'd decrease the enemy forces significantly.

"Alright." GL said, his marine training kicking in as he turned tot he other two. "We're gonna need a plan."

Flash snorted "What plan? We're superheroes remember?" He suddenly stood, and both Ichigo and Lantern got the feeling that the red speedster was about to do something extremely foolish "Let's just get this over with!" he exclaimed before charging towards the base at top speed.

Stopping in front of one of the walkers he shouted at the top of his lungs "Hey! Lookin' for someone! Come an get me!" And took off.

It was official, Ichigo thought; either the Flash was completely insane, or he was a total moron.

And as Ichigo watched the Flash duck and weave through a hail of laser-fire, only to trigger a strange alien mine which not only knocked him off his feet, but bound him in green ooze,he started to lean heavily towards the latter.

As the Walker prepared to gun the speedster down, Ichigo got ready to move. But as he flew down, he saw a bolt of energy race down and surround the Flash in a protective dome. The Walker fired, only to have the energy dissipate harmlessly against the bubble's surface.

Seeing that Lantern had Flash well in hand, Ichigo took that as his signal to move in on the offensive. Appearing in front of the walker, he shifted into his Fullbringer form, the blade held in front of him like a shield. The next bolt from the Walker reflected off the shield and struck it in the 'face', staggering it. While it was off balance, he charged the blade with energy until it practically hummed with power. Then, hefting the blade, he hurled it like a spear.

The blade turned projectile flew true, piercing the Walker and blowing a hole out the other side! It even managed to continue on and hit the side of the base, blowing a hole in the wall. Ichigo felt the blade fade away, only to reappear back in his hand.

He then heard the sound he was coming to associate with the Lantern's ring, and saw a large hand form to grab another Walker. Slamming it to the ground, the hand turned into a hammer, and smashed the rotten creature into paste. Turning, Ichigo just gave a nod ring-bearer, receiving on in return.

This left one walker and a bunch of pissed off soldiers guarding the weather machine. The soldiers had started firing into the air, which wasn't that much of a threat in an of itself, but given the large number of white martians, there was a veritable wall of death coming at them.

A green wall formed in front of him, taking the brunt of the damage. But Ichigo could tell from the look on Lantern's face that this much maintained fire was stressing his defense. He was about to start charging a Cero, when he suddenly felt he wind pick up. Looking down, he immediately located the source.

To be honest, he'd nearly forgotten about the Flash. But the Fastest Man Alive was back on his feet and not about to let himself get shown up. Running in a tight circle, he had formed a rather sizable tornado that he was steering towards the martians; taking care to not get shot or stuck this time.

Eventually the whirlwind got so large that Flash was able to simply disengaged himself from it without worry of it vanishing. But with no one to control it, the tornado careened through the martian troops, hurling them about hither and yon, just like he planned (hey, he didn't need to be Batman to come up with a cool plan ya know!).

With the troops in disarray, Ichigo went to take on the last Walker while Lantern started assaulting the machine. Landing atop it he quickly slashed at the top of its head, leaving a deep, yet nonlethal, wound. Then, drawing on his reishi, he grabbed each side and pulled, widening the injury. From the way the beast squirmed, he imagined this was quite painful. Lucky for it, its suffering was about to end. Charging a Cero between his horns, Ichigo fired the high powered destruction energy into the creature's brain, and felt the entire lower half of the creature just explode from the sheer force. Jumping away, Ichigo watched what was left of the beast slump to the ground.

With the Walkers dead, most of the troops taken care of, and the whole machine in utter ruin, there wasn't much left but to retrieve the 'central battery' at the heart of the device. J'ohn had given them a picture in their minds what it looked like, so with the Flash's speed finding it would be easy.

Landing on the ground, he walked over to see Lantern piling the defeated soldiers up in once place, likely to make detaining them later easier. With the sound of displaced air, Flash was standing between the two of them with a grin holding the power cell that ran the machine.

"What took you guys so long?" he asked, tossing the alien artifact from one hand to the other.

GL gave the speedster an annoyed look. "We were cleaning up. Get's kinda messy when you barrel in without a plan!" he snapped.

Flash's attitude didn't fade in the slightest "Hey, I totally did have a plan" he replied, catching the cell.

Under his mask, Ichigo raised an eyebrow "Getting stuck in mud and nearly shot is a plan?"

Flash's grin dropped as he stuttered "Uh… well, you see…" then he was back "Of course. I was luring them into a false sense of security." he said, nodding like it was the smartest thing in the world. Lantern and Ichigo just exchanged a look.

GL's face finally broke into a small grin "Alright, we're done here. Let's go meet up with the others." and with that, he took off, Flash and Ichigo right behind him.

_-The Guardian-_

Diana had never felt worse as she stood atop one of the giant buildings that dominated this strange world. Her first mission off the island was going terribly. They had been so close to taking the power cell from the invaders, and rendering their strange weapon useless. But they had been overwhelmed by sheer force of numbers, and had been forced to flee like cowards. Worse still, one of her new allies, the one called 'Batman' had perished in the escape. Though her warrior training allowed her to rationalize that their was little she could have done, she could not help but feel a deep sadness in her heart, despite having only known the strange man a few hours.

Worse still, J'ohn had informed her that one of the other teams, Superman and Hawkgirl, had also failed. It appeared as though their quest to protect the earth from subjugation would not end in their favor.

Below, she heard the cries of frantic people, and the wail of what J'ohn called 'Sirens' (which were not at all like the creatures she knew, but apparently something used by authorities). She was not impressed much by what she had seen. Though man had built sprawling cities, the people ran about like untamed savages.

She had said as much to J'ohn, but he had quickly admonished her (all without ever changing the tone of his voice). He pointed out that what the people below did, they did out of fear. She had wondered what she and her sisters would be doing, if it were her world that was being laid to waste… Amazons were warriors, true, but against such monsters, might they too feel afraid?

"Hey! Somebody help! There's kids trapped in here!" her eyes snapped to the call for aid's origin, and found two men desperately trying to move some debris. Though it was obvious they would not be strong enough to move it, they were trying anyway, desperate to help those that could not help themselves.

Diana realized at that moment that she had been too quick to judge this world. While it may have dark spots in it, the same was true of all places… even her own home. And perhaps, if she possessed a little more compassion…

Before she could descend to the street below to aid the two, the rocks were encompassed in a familiar green glow. Diana watched as the one called Lantern lifted the rubble away, freeing two small children. The men quickly scooped the frightened young ones up, and after thanking the hero, took off; hopefully for someplace safer.

The Lantern descended to the rooftop with J'ohn and herself, and was soon joined by the one called Flash, and the Reaper. She noticed something clutched in the dark heroes hand, and immediately recognized it for what it was.

"It would seem you, at least, were successful." J'ohn spoke, his lips twitching just slightly to form a smile.

GL frowned "I take it you didn't manage to get yours?" he asked, and Diana couldn't help but think he was judging her, and blaming her for the failure of the mission.

Flash just shrugged "Eh, no biggy, we got one at least. How did Supes and the weird bird girl do? And where's Bats? Sulking in some dark corner?" Diana felt her heart ache as she watched the grinning speedster look about for his friends.

J'ohn sighed, and Ichigo knew that something was wrong. Superman was supposed to be one of the most powerful people on the planet. He should have been one of the first ones back…

"I am afraid that they, too, have failed. Worse still, Superman and Hawkgirl have been taken prisoner." the martian explained. GL's face looked grim, while the smile melted off of Flash's. Only Ichigo was able to ask the question that he knew was in the back of all their minds…

"And where is Batman?" he asked, his tone clipped and sharp, made worse by the effects the mask had on his voice.

The silence J'ohn and Diana gave them was all they needed to know.

Flash fell to his knees, shock and sadness playing across his face "No way…" he muttered weakly. There was no way Bats could be dead. He was sure that the grouch couldn't even BE killed! And yet…

Ichigo shook his head. He hadn't even known them a day, and yet he still considered these people his comrades. And already one of them was dead. War was hell, and had a way of breaking people apart. He thought he'd gotten away from all of that when he came here, but clearly not. Still…

"What now?" he asked. He would not let Batman's death be a vain one, and besides "Superman and Hawkgirl still need us. Where are they? How do we put these freaks down for good?" he asked, his spiritual pressure barely held back at all as his grip tightened on his sword.

GL, his eyes hard, stepped forward "The kid's right. We've got the power cell you asked for, is there anything you can do with it?" he asked, his ring glowing with power.

The Martian looked at the four heroes before him, each willing to lay down their lives for the world, and for their friends. Despite how bleak things looked, he knew victory could be achieved. He nodded at the Lantern.

"Good" the marine said "Now, if we're gonna do this, we're gonna do this right. We need a plan."

_-The Guardian-_

Explosions rocked the air as the wall to the alien base was blown from to rubble. Through the smoke they came, fire in their eyes and a battle cry on their lips. Well… Ichigo's and Diana's anyway. Flash was oddly quiet this time around.

The plan was simple enough: He, Diana, and Flash would cause a major distraction by laying waste to as much of the fortified compound as they could, while GL and J'ohn worked to sabotage the main generator. After analyzing the power cell they'd retrieved, J'ohn was confident he understood it enough to control the machine. Hopefully, J'ohn would be able to reverse the damage done to the sky, allowing sunlight to shine down and burn away these invaders.

But there was no time to think about them, it was time to focus on the job at hand. With a wave of his sword, a Getsuga Tenshou sliced three of the white blobs in half, and the resulting explosion sent several more rocketing into the air. Those he caught with a well aimed Cero which resulted in another hole in the wall.

The others weren't doing so bad either. He'd watched the princess punch a guy so hard he'd turned into a small rain shower of white goo. And their attempts to fight back were proving fruitless, as all their laser beams merely bounced off her bracelets.

Flash wasn't doing so bad either. With nothing to trip him up, he quickly built up some impressive momentum. He zigged and zagged around the white martians, moving out of the way of their shots long before they ever had the chance to get near him. Ichigo smirked; were she still around, he was sure Yoruichi would have very much liked to race the red speedster.

A bolt of energy came so close it nearly clipped one of his horns. No time for remembering, time for fighting. He zipped in close, looking for some close quarters combat. He sliced the guns they held in half, with a second swing taking their arms. They tried to surround him, some managing to morph their arms into blades, but they weren't nearly fast enough. Soon their bodies fell in a heap of jumbled parts. Ichigo had to admit, it was oddly satisfying.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by the sound of all to human screams. Jerking his head in the direction of the noise so fast he thought his neck might break, he felt his breath die in his throat. A tentacle had buried itself in the Flash's back, and a burst of electricity had rendered him unconscious, White Martian Invaders quickly moving to overtake the body.

Ichigo made to help his speedster friend, only for a sharp pain to lance through his own back. Before he could swing his sword, a million volts seemed to dance their way through is system, make him spasm in ways the human body was not meant to bend. From the corner of his eye, what little part of him could maintain focus saw Diana was suffering a similar fate.

Sadly, his body could not take this level of agony for long, and he quickly slipped into blissful unconsciousness…

_-The Guardian-_

Ichigo groaned as he slowly regained consciousness, a sound echoed to his immediate left and right. His whole body felt heavy, and he soon realized he was suspended in the air, his body bound to something he could not fully see.

'What… happened?' he thought, blinking the fuzziness from his eyes.

_'You got your ass knocked out, that's what happened.' _he heard his inner hollow shout, amusement evident in his voice, despite their situation. _'Me and the old fart over here managed to keep your disguise up though. I wanted to tear these freaks a new one, but old man kill-joy over here wouldn't let me.' _

_**'Yes, I did not feel that your brand heroics would make a bad situation any better. If anything, it would have gotten us all killed. I made a judgement call, and it turned out to be right didn't it?' **_Zangetsu replied, not even phased by his cohort's language. He did, however, take some small satisfaction in Hichigo's grumbling and barely audible agreement.

While his inner voices argued with themselves, Ichigo took the chance to survey his surroundings. He was in a large, almost amphitheater like room. It was multi-leveled, with what looked like hundreds of invaders just milling around, all armed, just waiting for something to happen.

As for him and his new teammates, they were bound to a large wall, with tentacles around every limb and throat. Some good news though was that everyone seemed to be alive, just groggy. Ichigo's chest felt a weight lift off of it when he saw that Superman and Hawkgirl were still okay.

He'd been disarmed, he briefly noted, as he couldn't see his sword anywhere in the room. That wasn't really a problem though, given that it was made of his spiritual energy and he could form it in his hand at any time.

"You shouldn't have risked your lives for us…" he heard a voice mutter weakly. Turning his head, he saw a visibly drained Supeman looking at him and the others sadly.

Before he could respond, J'ohn replied "As though you would not do the same for any of us.." he gave a weak smile.

Before anyone else could toss in their two cents, a deep chuckle echoed through the room **"Well well, 'Earth's mightiest heroes' " **from a raised platform, several of the invaders stood at attention as one (clearly the leader) stepped forward. Then, before their eyes, his body shifted into that of a human man. Ichigo could have sworn he recognized him from somewhere…

"Senator Carter" Superman said, glaring at the pseudo statesmen. Ah, that would explain it then, Ichigo thought. He'd never been good with putting names to faces.

The false senator, his voice now sounding perfectly human, gave a vicious smirk "Unfortunately, the real Carter never made it back from Mars." he said.

Superman seemed to visible flex against his bonds "And you used me to weaken Earth's defenses." he growled.

'Carter' grinned "You were so eager to help. Thanks to you the humans were practically helpless when we arrived."

"This isn't over" Superman promised, which only made the alien senator chuckle.

"Wrong again." he replied, as the ceiling opened and lightning seemed to crackle in the sky.

From out of the dark stormy sky a ship descended, landing behind the group of white martians. All but Carter quickly bowed before the ship. Clearly, whatever cargo it bore was important.

Carter's grin threatened to split his face, proclaiming "All hail… The Imperium!" as the leader of the invading race descended from its ship.

_**"Their leader is a space jellyfish?" **_Hichigo chuckled in the back of Ichigo's head. And it was true; floating nearly ten feet off the ground was a massive purple and black jellyfish like creature. Normally such a thing would be comical, but judging by the way J'ohn's body went rigid at the sight of it, now was not the time for jokes.

The creature… the 'Imperium' apparently recognized J'ohn as well, because it floated towards him, psychic lightning crackling across the surface of its 'skin'.

**"J'ohn J'onzz… It has been a long time, hasn't it?" **With a wave of one of its tentacles, the fleshy mass that held J'ohn rose up towards the abomination, depositing him in front of it. J'ohn stood tall, unwilling to give this beast any satisfaction.

That apparently didn't sit well with the invaders, as two of them quickly brought out sticks, their tips sparking and fizzing to his flesh. With a flash they electrocuted the martian, bringing him first to his knees, then causing him to collapse with his face to the floor. The pain must have been intense, because his form shifted, returning him to his natural martian state as smoke rose from his body.

Ichigo and the others tried to break free from their bonds, but their efforts proved no more successful then Superman's.

The Imperium floated right above J'ohn **"Much better. You have defied us for centuries…" **the creature trailed off as J'ohn forced himself to his feet.

_"And I will never bow before you or any of your kind!" _he shot back. Ichigo heard the words, but not with his ears. It looked like J'ohn was back to speaking telepathically.

As much was possible given its body shape, the Imperium shrugged **"Then I shall personally finish what was started so long ago…" **it's tentacles reached out for J'ohn **"The elimination of the last martian!" **

Ichigo and the others watched in horror as the tentacles slid under J'ohn's skin, something that clearly caused him great pain. Then, before their shocked eyes, it dragged him beneath the Imperium's jelly like mass.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. His hands may be tied, but he still had… yes! With an explosive spark, a Cero ignited between his horns. He fired off a beam of death right at the Imperium, but one of the Invaders threw itself in the way. The beam vaporized the monster to ash, and alerted the others to the fact that one of the prisoners was not quite as contained as he appeared. He saw them line up, rifles drawn, ready to end his life right there.

But before they had a chance, a thin line of red light sliced across their guns and bodies. A mere instant later the invaders that had been about to shoot him were on fire. Turning his head, he saw Superman give him a tired nod. He clearly hadn't had much energy, and heat vision in a weakened state had taken it out of him.

**"Destroy them!" **The Imperium gave a gurgling shout which sent its soldiers into a frenzy of movement as they practically tripped over themselves to fulfill its will.

Diana gave a frustrated growl. All her strength was useless if she couldn't get her arms free. Hera help her…

Suddenly, a buzzing noise got her attention, and she turned her head so see that the one called Flash was vibrating like mad. His whole body was practically a blur, when he suddenly pulled his limbs free from their restraint, phasing through them like some kind of ghost.

Turning to face her, he gave her a cocky grin, before his fists suddenly went to work on her own restraints. While he may not have been as strong as some of the other heroes, he could build up enough momentum and repetitive force to wear away at the flesh holding her. When it started to crack, Diana flexed with all her might, before with a sudden burst, she freed one arm. With it she was able to smash the rest of her limbs free.

Thanking him, she went to free Green Lantern while he went to Hawkgirl. The Guardian and Superman were holding off the invaders with blasts of energy, and were soon aided in their efforts by Lantern.

While the heroes struggled to free each other and hold back the invading forces, the Imperium was still torturing J'ohn. It could sense… something in him, but was not sure what **"You are hiding something… tell me…" **it demanded.

With great difficulty, J'ohn responded _"Do I detect… a hint of… fear?" _

The Imperium redoubled its efforts, making the martian's body spasm so hard it looked like his back might snap **"Tell me!" **it roared in his mind.

_"NOW!" _J'ohn hollered mentally, his voice echoing through the minds of all present.

At first what he meant was not readily apparent. That is, until from the shadows moved a figure. They ran quickly towards one of the many machines in the room, leaping over any obstacle, their cape flowing behind them. It was.. .it was…

_"What the hell! I thought he was supposed to be dead!" _Hichigo decried this sudden turn of events.

Yes, it was true! Moving with speed and precision that would have made most martial artists green with envy, Batman batted aside each obstacle, ducking and weaving around each attack, to the point where it almost looked like the invaders were trying to strike a living shadow.

"I mentally protected him…" J'ohn explained, his body shifting back into 'superhero mode' "So that he would not be detected!"

Once all deterrents were removed, he unleashed his grappling hook, pulling himself higher up in the structure. Arriving at what looked like a large red bulb in the side of the room, he quickly blew a hole in it with a handful of capsules. Then, extracting a rather familiar looking device (a power core similar to the one Ichigo, Lantern, and Flash had recovered from the other alien machine) he plunged it into the center of the red bulb. With a pulse, the bulb-node alien thingy (Ichigo didn't claim to know nearly enough about science to even fathom what it might be) began to freeze over, to the abject horror of all present invaders.

The false senator screamed "What have you done!"

Batman didn't seem at all phased by the man's change in demeanor "I've reversed the ion charge." he stated simply as the layer of frost spread through the various walls and pillars in the room.

The Imperium tried to maintain order _"The Crystal! Destroy it!" _The invaders opened fire, with Batman only just grappling out of the way. However, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't so much as scratch the paint.

And with a great moan and groan, the machine began to fully succumb to whatever Batman had done to it. With a great bang like a rocket leaving earth, a beam of blue energy fired into the sky, impacting the clouds which blotted out the sun. The clouds parted in great dark tidal waves across the sky, dissipating the farther away they got from the beam. Soon, only clear sky remained, allowing beautiful sunlight to shine through.

And while the natives that bore witness to this were filled with gladness and hope, the Invaders did not share their sentiments. Like roaches they ducked and scrambled for cover from the hated light. Their skin smoking and bubbling like disgusting tar pits. Those that could not find shelter quick enough evaporated leaving nothing but echos of their final screams behind.

The Imperium though, it seemed, was made of slightly stronger stuff. For though it bubbled and boiled, it had not yet died. But from its depth, J'ohn burst through, the Imperium's tentacles still wrapped around him. The Imperium tried to disengage itself but the furious martian would not have it. With his superior strength, he tugged the Imperium away from the shadows it sought to hide in, and forced it to hover in the light.

"You cower in the darkness, and shun the light of day! Why? Does it burn your pale putrid skin?" J'ohn asked rhetorically as he and the Imperium staged a tug-of-war upon the platform. None of the invaders were able to help their master, either fleeing for their lives, or avoiding a similar fate as the recently freed heroes came from down below to voice their displeasure at their captors.

"Ew…" Flash commented, socking an invader in the chin "That is one nasty sunburn…"

Batman landed beside him "Ultraviolet rays" he explained to the other heroes "Coming from the depths of space the invaders have no resistance to our sun's radiation."

Superman found this amusing, as the moment the sun's rays touched him he began to grow in strength, his full power returning quickly.

Wonder Woman just nodded, not really understanding everything Batman had said, but getting the basics "So you did find their weakness after all" she commented, grabbing Batman's shoulder and pulling him out of the path of a energy blast meant for his head, reflecting it back at its sender.

Back with J'ohn, the Imperium gurgled out what may have been 'Shoot him', which signaled the few remaining invaders to focus on J'ohn in the hopes of saving their master, even as their skin boiled away.

But with their focus on J'ohn, the other heroes had a chance to move about without getting shot at; an opportunity they used to defend J'ohn. Superman displayed his impressive strength by grabbing the floor and bending it up in the path of the lasers, forming a makeshift wall. Hawkgirl, flying in from above, used her mace to smash the guns (and more often then not, arms and hands) of those unfortunate enough to be in her way.

Meanwhile, Green Lantern quickly began blowing holes in the roof, allowing more daylight to filter in, burning the invaders where they stood. Wonder Woman and Superman quickly aided him in his task, putting their powers to use tearing the building apart.

Ichigo though figured that Someone should probably help out J'ohn and not leave him to just fend for himself. As he saw the Imperium's tentacles dig their way into the martian's brain, he brought his Katana down on the jellyfish's back, scoring a deep cut in its flesh.

This proved to much for the creature, with the pain of the sunlight eating away at it, and now a giant gash in its back, it couldn't focus enough to even speak a final quip, let alone launch an attack. Collapsing to the ground, it's body quickly became a black and gooey puddle on the ground.

With their leader dead, the remaining invaders made to flee in the Imperium's ship. However, they didn't get far, with Wonder Woman tethering them with her lasso, and Hawkgirl treating the ship like her personal Piñata. Before it ever had the chance to get more then a few miles high, it was already being sent crashing to earth, crushing much of what was left of the Invader base.

As Ichigo and Batman made to move a heavily injured J'ohn to safety, he saw Superman using his heat vision to cut down what appeared to be several red cocoons. From them came several slimy and confused humans. Ichigo couldn't really tell what their purpose here was, and frankly he wasn't sure he wanted to know. God knows what sort of freaky crap the white martian invaders had put them through.

With the whole place ready to blow from all the damage done to it, Green Lantern called for them to group together. He enveloped all of them in a powerful green forcefield, and flew them all away from the facility just as it finally blew apart.

Standing atop a nearby building (the Daily Planet Ichigo thought) the heroes watched as the dark clouds dissipated, while overhead, various ships took off back into the void of space. Without their darkness to protect them, the invaders could not survive here, and would have to seek comfort in the dark of space…

_-The Guardian-_

_**Some Time Later: **_

Ichgio could only stare, his wide eyes visible even through his mask. He had seen a lot of strange, wonderful, and horrible things as a Soul Reaper but this… this was just…

**He Was In Space! **

A few weeks after the battle with the White Martians, Ichigo had assumed everything was going to go back to normal. The people of Earth were already repairing the damage the invaders had done, celebrating the heroism that had been done that day (not just by those in costumes) as well as mourning those that were lost.

Of course, there had been some pockets of resistance left, and for several days afterwards Superman had led them on various missions to secure the freedom of the planet. But recently, everything had been quieting down, and Ichigo wondered if he'd go back to his own routine in New York.

But then, quite unexpectedly, he received a psychic call from J'ohn, telling him to get in costume and get to the top of the Empire State building. Fearing another emergency, he'd been there in under a minute; only to find he was the only one there.

Then, in a flash of light, the skies of New York were replaced with slick shiny metal and multiple button panels. Where in the hell was he? He'd summoned Zangetsu, expecting some sort of attack-

"Easy there kid, put that thing away before you put someones eye out." he heard a familiar voice call out, its tone dripping with bemusement.

Turning, he saw Green Lantern, J'ohn Jonzz, and Batman standing behind a control panel. The Caped Crusader was working the apparent teleporter, while the other two stood by to catch his reaction. GL had a smirk on his lips, while even the martian was barely hiding a grin at Ichigo's sudden reaction to begin transported several hundred miles instantly.

From there, he was given a tour of what was revealed to be a massive space station, which hovered in orbit above the earth. Damn, not even the Soul Reapers had been to space!

According to Batman, the place had been funded by a place called Wayne Tech, which Ichigo briefly recalled was some big shot tech company. Though the Dark Knight's stoic face betrayed nothing, he guessed Batman knew more then he was telling, but Ichigo doubted he'd ever understand the dark hero.

Once all eight were gathered in the large conference room (which had a wide window with a stunning view of the planet below) Superman explained why he had called them there. A lot of good had been done by them, and the Earth was always in need of good heroes that could be counted on in a crisis. He suggested that by working together, they could keep the Earth much safer then they ever could separately. They'd still work on their own of course (Ichigo got the feeling he said that for Batman's benefit more then anything else), but if the world needed them, he wanted to know if he could count on them to answer the call.

Ichigo knew his answer long before Superman even finished his speech. He could use his powers to protect so many; he had an obligation. He had failed his last world, but now he had a chance to make it right. He could make new friends with these teammates, and together they would prevent this world from suffering a fate like his old one.

So he would do it. He would join, whether it was as the Reaper or the Guardian; for truth, justice, and the safety of all mankind.

And with one simple response, Ichigo Kurosaki, Substitute Soul Reaper, joined the Justice League.

**End Chapter 4**

_-The Guardian-_

**And so ends the Secret Origins arc of the series, and Ichigo is officially part of the newly formed Justice League! As I get ready to post this, I worry that some parts (like the capture scene) aren't long enough, but other parts of me don't want to try and make it even lengthier for fear of it being too wordy (plus I think if I stalled any longer you people would flay me). I hope that after all this time, I can still put out something worth reading.  
><strong>

**As you saw, not everything went according to canon: Team Flash and Green Lantern (the team that most of you wanted Ichigo to join) did not fail in their assault on the White Martian Machine; the rest of the heroes did not sit idly by while the Imperium tortured J'ohn, etc. I imagine that as time goes by, events will tend to deviate from canon, but this is a fanfiction after all. **

**Now for a new topic: Ichigo needs some villains, and I plan to turn a different character from fiction into one (who will it be: The Doctor? Deadpool? Some Tribbles?) So I am giving YOU the viewer the task of aiding me in picking some. Now, these villains won't be a major part of the story; just something/someone for Ichigo to be fighting when he gets the call from the about something important, or later on when...stuff happens. **

**Next: Using the scale from the previous chapter, please quantify the abilities** **of...**

Bleach: Urahara, Yoruichi, Hitsugaya

From JL: Hawkgirl, Flash, J'ohn J'onzz

**Please use ONLY those characters. **

****So there you go. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, please feel free to tell me in a review. If I didn't well I'm sorry to hear that, and you're welcome to offer some helpful critics in a review, but as always no Flames, as those are no good for anyone. Also, because I'm not above shameless plugging; why don't you go read something else I've written like: ****_I Don't Know How to Deal with Youkai Academy!, The Last Laugh of Konoha, The Lantern Chronicles, Naruto: Card Captor, Deadliest Warrior, Season X, Deadliest Character, The Many Faces of Naruto Uzumaki, Justice for Who?, Kratos Takes a Vacation, Death:The Next Adventure, or my very first story with only one chapter remaining until it's completion: Naruto In Hell!****  
><strong>**_

**_NEXT TIME ON: GUARDIAN OF THE__ LEAGUE__..._**

_The Green Lantern is Arrested for the Destruction of an Entire Planet! _

_A Malevolent Force Sets it's Sights on Oa!_

_And Ichigo...May Have to Act as an Attorney? _

**See It All in Chapter Five: **

**In Blackest Night!**

**or...**

**OBJECTION! DC Style**


End file.
